When we first saw this place three years ago, we fell in love with it instantly, but vowed that the 11 metre electricity pole sighted right behind the house would have to move. Moving it turned out to be incredibly expensive, but removing it altogether was (oddly) free, so finally, on tuesday May 5th, NIE came to take it down. We’ve been without a grid supply for some time now, as the meter was removed ages ago, but having the pole, transformer and stay wires removed makes an incredible difference to the space. Plus we don’t now have the constant hum of the transformer just metres away from the place where we sleep.

The 3 NIE guys were great, and careful not to make too much mess, which was hard given the terrible weather conditions. We’d expected the pole to be hard to remove but it was sitting in a shallow hole and simply lifted out with a digger. A few seconds later it was down without any fuss at all.

As you can see, the pole was a fair size, and dominated the little cottage below. Plus the stay wires cut across the space between the two cottages. It was just so intrusive.

The difference is incredible. Apart from the view, it just feels as if we have regained the whole space, and breathed a huge sigh of relief.