Electricity problems in Swindon Lane

It started with an almighty bang and flash when the power blew on the lines that cross the field adjacent to Swindon Lane. They look like telegraph poles but they actually carry 11,000 volt cables. The cables supply transformers that step the voltage down to the 240 volts that we all use in our houses. Apparently no-one lost power because the network can be reconfigured around the fault. To add insult to injury the two guys tasked with fixing the fault also had to deal with their van getting stuck in the lovely clay soil!

While all that was going on I noticed that the floodlights that illuminate the level crossing had gone out, quite eerie when you are used to the blazing illumination every night. This was, I am told, a completely separate fault in a low voltage underground cable. Apart from the flood lights the only other "casualty" was a neighbour's house. The temporary solution has been two generators; one on the east side of the railway to supply the floodlights and one on the west side supplying the house (through the letter box!). The generators run 24 hours a day so I'm sure everyone in the area will be glad when these faults are fixed!