Help Save Us From The Scouring of Our Shire
What Steals the Light
And so they trade with honey and fool's gold,
The tower climbs to ride upon the gale.
Around the peaks, the watch-fires rise to flame,
Through mist and rain, the hills cry, "Not today."
The roots grow restless deep in grit and bone,
New fractures form in knots of slate and coal.
Each river swells with voices not its own,
And bedrock reaps what greed has blindly sown.
When borrowed winds command in foreign tongue,
What dwelt beneath now stirs its ancient crown,
Our land remembers everything undone,
What steals the light shan't rise before the sun.
Elwyn Davies
When Good Intentions Pave the Road to Devastation
Suppose you've read Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. In that case, you'll remember the Scouring of the Shire: that heartbreaking chapter where the hobbits return home to find their beloved countryside industrialised, trees felled, rivers polluted.
We face our own scouring here in Mid Wales.
The Wye Valley and the Epynt area (a landscape of ancient beauty, rich biodiversity, and deep cultural significance) is under threat from industrial-scale wind farm development. These are not community-owned projects or thoughtfully placed infrastructure.
Massive corporate installations that will forever change the character of this place. I have spoken to numerous representatives from these organisations, and they have been armed with soundbites that sound positive on the surface, but ring hollow when examined more closely. We are experiencing a modern-day gold rush from overseas consortia, looking to strike in this moment before most of us realise what is truly happening.
These representatives do not know about the history of Mid Wales, the past scarring caused by those outside our area imposing their will through extraction, machine and ‘progress.’ They didn’t think to look up the history of the Epynt or Elan Valley.
I believe they are surprised by the fierce and growing local resistance they face. We have been here before; they couldn’t be bothered to try to understand this point.
A Personal Note on Influence
Tolkien's work has profoundly shaped how I see the world. His reverence for the natural landscape, understanding that "progress" often means destruction dressed in noble language: these ideas ran through many of the stories he wrote.
This influence led me to take the frankly ridiculous first step of writing my own saga, The Book of the Western Veil. Not to imitate him (I could never) but because he showed me that storytelling can be a form of resistance, a way to make people feel what's at stake.
Would Tolkien have supported our cause? I wouldn’t claim that. But I think he would have asked hard questions about who benefits and who loses, about whether destroying beautiful landscapes in the name of saving the environment makes any sense at all.
I suspect he would not have been satisfied with the answers currently on offer.
This Is Not About Being Anti-Green Energy
Many of us support renewable energy.
What we oppose is the madness of how it's being implemented: destroying the very environment it claims to protect.
There are better ways:
Offshore wind that doesn't scar remote rural landscapes
Rooftop solar on every building and brownfield site
Energy efficiency that reduces demand at source
Community-owned schemes that benefit locals instead of distant shareholders
A scattering of 220-metre-high wind turbines collected with a network of ugly power lines is not the answer.
The Lie Behind the "Green" Label
Corporate developers wrap themselves in environmental virtue while pursuing profit. They present false choices: "Accept our wind farms or you're against saving the planet."
This is the language of the powerful, designed to silence dissent.
Saving the planet doesn't require sacrificing every beautiful place to industrial development. It's just a new form of extraction, dressed in green clothing.
Join the Movement: RE-THINK Wales
RE-THINK Wales is campaigning to save the Welsh countryside from industrialisation. Their message is simple and powerful: Don't break the Heart of Wales.
They're for smart renewables that don't destroy what they're meant to protect.
Visit their website to:
Learn about better alternatives to industrial wind
Understand what's really at stake in Mid Wales
Add your voice to the campaign
Take meaningful action to protect our landscape
The Power of Story
This is part of the reason why I am writing The Book of the Western Veil: an epic saga set in and around Epynt. Because once you've walked these hills in story, once you've connected emotionally to this landscape, the idea of industrialising it becomes unbearable.
I hope that stories change minds, and these tales will create new defenders of our beautiful lands.
We can't let our Shire be scoured.
Not on our watch.