29/11/12 Workmen paint high voltage electricity pylons near Alderley Edge, Cheshire, today. Despite the frosty metal towers being freezing to touc
29/11/12 Workmen paint high voltage electricity pylons near Alderley Edge, Cheshire, today. Despite the frosty metal towers being freezing to touch, a team of pylon painters battle to catch up with vital maintenance to keep up with the extra demand for electricity over Christmas. ÒWhen itÕs this cold the paint becomes hard and wonÕt come out of the tin. I have to warm the pots up using plastic tubes connected to the heater in the vanÓ, said 40-year-old Brian Done. Brian is one of a team of men employed to paint the 22,000 pylons that carry 400,000 volts of electricity over thousands of miles of National GridÕs nationwide network, delivering power to homes across the country. ÒWe canÕt paint when itÕs raining as it would get washed away. This year has been so wet weÕve not been able to paint very much at all C so we need to try and catch up now. ÒItÕs very cold up there today. If it gets more icy we wonÕt be able to climb,Ó said Brian as he abseiled from the top of a 165ft pylon near Alderley Edge, Cheshire. The men work for CLC Group based in Southampton. They are contracted to repaint each and every one of the nationÕs transmission towers, as they are officially known, every ten to 15 years. ÒIt takes four of us one day to finish a pylon of this size. First we have to get rid of moss and fungi with a fungicide. Then we rub it down with wire brushes, before applying the yellow under-coat and then re-painting it with green-grey paint. ÒMy father taught me the trade,Ó added Brian who has been painting pylons for 23 years. ÒWhen I started we didnÕt use ropes C they didnÕt come in until the late 80s. ItÕs much safer now C at least you know youÕre going to come home at the end of the day. ÒThe power is on most of the time so you need to be careful C itÕs only turned off when we paint the arms. ÒIÕm training up my son, Reece, now C heÕs up the top there. He was terrified to start with but soon got used to it. HeÕs happy to have a job,Ó said Brian from nearby
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Photo credit: © Rod Kirkpatrick / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: alderley, dangerous, edge, electricity, fsp, fstoppress, high, job, painters, painting, picture, pin, press, pylon, pylons, standalone, stop, voltage
