Waterleat Walks and Talks

at Old Walls Hydro

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ABOUT US

The main house and farm at Old Walls have been powered by green electricity since 1936 from a small plant on the West Webburn.  The potential of the river was not fully used, and only enough energy was created to supply the power needed.

Miles, who grew up at Old Walls, has been interested and enthused by waterpower since his childhood and recognised the potential of the river to generate far more power than it did for so many years.  In 1995, Miles and Gail began a brand new micro-hydro development on the same site and created Old Walls Hydro.  The new plant uses the maximum head of water from the river, within the boundaries of Old Walls Farm and generates enough electricity to supply approximately 80 homes with clean, green power.

The construction sparked interest amongst many local people and primary schools nearby.  They were invited to visit the site and have since asked to come back and see the new developments and energy generation in operation.  It is because of this demand that we have set up Waterleat Walks and Talks and have opened Old Walls Hydro up as an educational resource and site of interest for many groups.

Demand for visits has also come from landowners, farmers and homeowners with river frontage who wanted to see the process of renewable energy generation from waterpower.  Many of these people have been enthused by our plant and want to create their own green electricity from water on their land.  Miles and Gail's son-in-law, Chris, has his own business Western Renewable Energy which is able to help people design and build their own systems.