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Electricity reaches last village in Britain
2 hours, 56 minutes ago
CWM BREFI (Reuters) - The 19th century has finally caught up with the Welsh mountain community of Cwm Brefi today as it became the last village in Britain to connect to the electricity network.
The residents of this picturesque village in west Wales, who campaigned for years for the switch-on, said they were delighted to finally have power on tap.
No more will they have to get by with dim lights powered for a few hours a day by spluttering generators in their sheds. Gone is the era of stumbling around in the dark and rationing television viewing.
"I just can't stop smiling," said smallholder Julie Hutchings, who started the campaign. "It was a fantastic feeling just to switch the lights on," she told Reuters.
"My two-year-old grandson went straight to turn the television on," added 44-year-old Hutchings, who lives in the valley with three other generations of her family. "My stepfather could not wait to use his brand new breadmaker."
Until Tuesday, the 11 households in Cwm Brefi, in a valley dotted with sheep between steep wooded hills, had relied on the noisy diesel-powered generators, which power only a limited number of appliances at once.
"We'll have the evening off but I have quite a lot of housework to do, so tomorrow the washing machine and Hoover (vacuum cleaner) will be going all at once," said Hutchings, who has lived in Cwm Brefi 16 years.
The birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Britain first installed an electricity grid over a century ago.
Cwm Brefi's new power provider, Western Power Distribution, said the village's remoteness and distance from the main network made the cost of installation an obstacle.
The residents researched available funding and each household agreed to contribute 5,000 pounds towards the 300,000 pounds needed to connect to the mains supply. Most of the rest came from the European Union (news - web sites).
The suppliers installed nine miles (15 km) of cables along 190 poles to reach the valley time forgot. "In terms of how far they have had to bring it, I think we've got good value for money," said Hutchings
2 hours, 56 minutes ago
CWM BREFI (Reuters) - The 19th century has finally caught up with the Welsh mountain community of Cwm Brefi today as it became the last village in Britain to connect to the electricity network.
The residents of this picturesque village in west Wales, who campaigned for years for the switch-on, said they were delighted to finally have power on tap.
No more will they have to get by with dim lights powered for a few hours a day by spluttering generators in their sheds. Gone is the era of stumbling around in the dark and rationing television viewing.
"I just can't stop smiling," said smallholder Julie Hutchings, who started the campaign. "It was a fantastic feeling just to switch the lights on," she told Reuters.
"My two-year-old grandson went straight to turn the television on," added 44-year-old Hutchings, who lives in the valley with three other generations of her family. "My stepfather could not wait to use his brand new breadmaker."
Until Tuesday, the 11 households in Cwm Brefi, in a valley dotted with sheep between steep wooded hills, had relied on the noisy diesel-powered generators, which power only a limited number of appliances at once.
"We'll have the evening off but I have quite a lot of housework to do, so tomorrow the washing machine and Hoover (vacuum cleaner) will be going all at once," said Hutchings, who has lived in Cwm Brefi 16 years.
The birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Britain first installed an electricity grid over a century ago.
Cwm Brefi's new power provider, Western Power Distribution, said the village's remoteness and distance from the main network made the cost of installation an obstacle.
The residents researched available funding and each household agreed to contribute 5,000 pounds towards the 300,000 pounds needed to connect to the mains supply. Most of the rest came from the European Union (news - web sites).
The suppliers installed nine miles (15 km) of cables along 190 poles to reach the valley time forgot. "In terms of how far they have had to bring it, I think we've got good value for money," said Hutchings
