Cutting the miscanthus.

Our energy crop was cut this week - miscanthus (elephant grass) is used both as a fuel for space heating and can also be co-fired with coal in power stations to reduce the amount of coal being used to power the UK's homes.

There is a valid debate about whether we should be using land for energy production which could otherwise be used for food. At Iford we have taken the view that it is acceptible to turn a relatively small acreage over to miscanthus production especially if in the future the crop can be used by us on site (although at present we do not use it ourselves) - all part of ensuring that Iford manages its carbon footprint and uses renewables if possible.

By the way, if you buy your electricity from Good Energy, some of your electricity is notionally being produced by our Hydro plant. Which is nice.

A winter walk in the morning frost

A sharp frost on Monday this week enticed me out with the camera.  Chilly, and owing to the [foolish] lack of a jacket, a distinctly swift walk.

(Click on the images for larger, slightly sharper versions)

Hydro update - 20MWh and counting

All running well, and pleased to say that we have today exported our 20th Mega-watt hour of electricity.  This means, I gather, that we can generated enough for four average sized homes for a year, and we've only been running for four weeks or so.  Good news, I'd say.

DVD Release -- Tim Kliphuis: Live at Iford Manor

A couple of weeks ago, we were excited to release our first recording of musical events in the cloister at Iford.  Iford Recordings will bring the finest artists to your home through the medium of DVD.

"Tim Kliphuis and Friends: Live at Iford Manor" was filmed in front of a live audience, on June 30th 2011.  The aim was to produce a DVD which would bring to the television screen the experience of attending an event at Iford, working with a spectacular artist in an inspirational venue.

Tim Kliphuis is a world class violinist, and an exponent of the immediacy of improvised music.  The understanding and response to the inputs from both audience and venue are what makes a great improviser and the eclectic styles at Iford proved great inspiration for Tim's music making.

A sample from the DVD can be found above.  Copies can be purchased at www.ifordrecordings.co.uk and would make a great Christmas present.  Copies should be with you by Christmas if ordered before Sunday 18th December.  This year, give someone the gift of great music at Iford.

The Turn of the Screw (not Britten)

It was with great excitement that, yesterday afternoon, we were able to witness the first turn of the screw.  Roger Hutton, of Potential Energy, proudly raised the main sluice gates and the turbine eased into action.  This was just a test of course, as the electricity board is still checking a few elements in the connection to the grid but we do expect to be contributing in a small, but nevertheless important, way to the sustainable output of the UK within a week.

All contracted plant is now off site as the civil work was completed on Monday, and it is now just testing, linking up the internet (so we can monitor performance) and work to get the telemetry settings right, all going on inside the 'shed of mystery' by the frightfully clever boffins who understand the wonders within.

So the heavy work is complete.  I will report once again when we begin the landscaping, fencing and aesthetic tidying work; but that will all have to wait until we are in a position to get machinery into the field, which would be impossible at present for the mud.

A walk round the garden this afternoon

I had twenty minutes spare this afternoon, and the sun was shining.  So, armed annoyingly with the less good camera, I set off into the garden to see what I could find.  Leaves, mostly, and the odd berry.

 

Archimedes screw update - sluice gate arrives.

Last time I brought you up to speed to the point where the screw had arrived (all 8 tonnes of it), and we had successfully negotiated the 1 mile journey from the A36 down the hill across fields and along tracks, to its resting place in the ready-prepared concrete cradle:

Since then, the bearings have been connected up, and a shed built on top of the concrete platform in which the gear mechanism and control unit are housed.  This is seriously solid kit.

 The shed:

You might recall that there was a large tree root which needed to be removed from the mill leet wall before repairs to it could be made.  This was the result (it came out with quite a bit of wall attached - all of which will be reused in some project or other).

The enormous 360 excavator gave the remaining stones a hefty shove back into the hole created by the tree roots.

And then shuttering was applied in order to create a concrete replacement to the top half of this wall, which will withstand attack by fast flowing 'torpedo' tree-roots and such much better than the old stone wall would have done.

More shuttering props are added:

 The results were excellent, and the plan is to tie this into the new beam (look back at previous updates from first weeks of the project) on the weir to give greater strength on the corner by the piles blocking the leet in the image below.

Some significant site tidying went on at this point, and we suffered from our first rain delays.  Fortunately this coincided in part with a delay on the arrival of the all-important sluice gates.  In the image below you can see the sluice gates have been installed finally, and the shed has also received its cladding which tones it down a bit.

We have been astonished at the speed that the entire project has been moving along.  I am touching copious quantities of wood as I write this, but hopefully all will run smoothly for the final fortnight.  Boy, will be pleased to see the project completed - not only because we are excited to generate the electricity, but furthermore because we are experiencing some pretty determined river flows just now, and a flood this month really would set things back!

This was the river taken this morning: