The UK National Grid: history of an energy landscape and its impacts

We take electricity for granted and do not think of where it
comes from when we switch on a light or use an electrical
appliance. But behind the electricity coming out of a wall socket
lays an entire energy landscape of poles, wires, electrical
substations and power stations. It is imposed on the landscape
like a gigantic web, a grid that has become almost part of the
natural scenery.


Just over a century ago this electricity grid did not exist.
Power generation was local or at best regional and often based on
the burning of coal or the use of locally produced gas. In less
than a century the grid covered the entire United Kingdom and
many other countries. It revolutionised our lives, the way we
worked and it made air in cities a whole lot cleaner. But how did
the development of this energy landscape impact on the landscape
and environment? What were the social and economic consequences
of the expansion of the grid?


This history is now researched by Cambridge based PhD candidate
Kayt Button. Her project is part of the British Arts and
Humanities Research Council funded environmental history
initiative “The Power and the Water: Connecting Pasts with
Futures”, that focuses on environmental connectivities that have
emerged in Britain since industrialisation. Episode 66 of the
Exploring Environmental History podcast features Kayt’s work and
discusses the development of the UK National Grid, and how it
changed people’s lives, its environmental impacts and how the
past informs the future development of the grid.


Websites mentioned
The Water and the Power Project website
Blog posts & poster by Kayt Button



Music credits
"Dance of the Pixels" by Doxent Zsigmond and "Snowdaze" by
Jeris, available from ccMixter