Lights, camera, action! Surrey movie set has a powerful makeover

A picturesque landscape featured in films War Horse and Nanny McPhee will be dramatically enhanced by the removal of high-voltage power lines near Hascombe.

Transformers, poles and power lines have disappeared from the landscape. L-r Stephen Godwin-Austen, owner of Tilsey Farm, Michael Sydney, chairman of Surrey Hills Board, and Colin Barden, UK Power Networks’ head of South East network operations.

UK Power Networks is investing £315,000 to replace 1.5 miles of 11,000-volt overhead power lines with underground cables in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) at Tilsey Farm, in Palmers Cross, which has been farmed by the same family for nearly 500 years.

Thanks to its special landscape character, the farmland has recently become a popular filming location. Nanny McPhee was shot on location from a barn nestled in a pretty valley and a meadow was transformed into an authentic French farmstead for Steven Spielberg’s First World War epic War Horse. A film company paid for some power lines to be diverted for Nanny McPhee 2 and computer-generated imagery was used to ”remove” some of the overhead electricity network to provide an authentic wartime setting for War Horse.

The French farmstead depicted in Steven Spielberg’s First World War epic, War Horse, was actually filmed in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at Palmers Cross, where power lines ‘digitally removed’ in the movies were dismantled today.

The current project, funded by UK Power Networks, will see the removal of three further lengths of power lines, 25 electricity poles, transformers and switches. The infrastructure, which delivers electricity to homes and businesses across the area, has been rerouted underground.

Shaun Barrell, UK Power Networks’ protected areas project officer, said: “Hollywood has taken a shine to this special landscape and it’s easy to see why. Our overhead power lines are vital but they have featured prominently in this picturesque landscape over the last six decades. Thanks to this special project, we have an opportunity to bury some of our essential infrastructure underground, ensuring we can maintain reliable power supplies to customers while enhancing this protected countryside for future generations.”

John Furey, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, said: “Surrey boasts some of the most beautiful countryside in the world so it’s no wonder Hollywood has been dazzled by it. A power-line-free countryside would certainly enhance our landscape. This work being carried out by UK Power Networks near Hascombe is a step in the right direction.”

Stephen Godwin-Austen, owner of Tilsey Farm, said: “My family has owned this land for generations and it is a resolute ambition of mine to pass it on to my children, as far as possible, in a better condition than I found it. This project is an important piece of that jigsaw. The power lines which criss-cross the land have jarred on the natural environment and taking them down will greatly enhance this landscape. Walkers and horse riders enjoy this area and they are excited about the impact this project will have on some beautiful countryside.”

Going underground: linesman dismantling the power lines today at a Palmers Cross farm recently used by Hollywood.

Tilsey Farm has seen extensive conservation improvements in recent years, including tree planting, pond creation and habitat enhancements, as part of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. The farm is part of a popular circular walk from the White Horse pub in Hascombe and the bridleways are used extensively by horse riders. The area has been described as one of the most picturesque parts of the Surrey Hills AONB, characterised by dramatic steep-sided valleys and outstanding views from high ground. Until now, some of those views have included overhead power lines, visible from various locations.

UK Power Networks has a special allowance from industry regulator Ofgem to take down power lines the company owns and operates in AONBs and national parks across the South East. The projects are chosen by a regional steering group of environment experts, including the Surrey Hills AONB, and chaired by Natural England. UK Power Networks provides technical support and guidance and carries out the projects.

Since 2005 the electricity network operator has been working with environmental experts from each of the AONB units and national parks to enhance the appearance of some of Britain’s most important landscapes. This is the latest undergrounding scheme to get under way in Surrey. Similar projects have already taken place in the Surrey Hills at:

• ·Coldharbour, where in July panoramic parkland views once enjoyed by Ralph Vaughan Williams, one of England’s greatest composers, were transformed by a £261,843 scheme to replace nearly a mile of 11,000-volt overhead power lines with underground cables. To watch a short film about this project click here.
• ·Westcott, Wotton and Abinger Hammer, where, in 2009, £934,260 was invested to remove nearly three miles of high voltage overhead power lines, 59 wooden support poles and 11 pole mounted transformers
• ·Loseley Park, near Guildford, where in 2009 a £250,000 investment secured the removal of nearly two miles of overhead power lines and 38 wooden support poles from the landscape
• ·Polesden Lacey, at Great Bookham, where in 2009 the National Trust site benefited from a £145,000 scheme to remove just under a kilometre of overhead electricity cables and 10 wooden poles
• ·Holmwood Common at Dorking where in 2009 a £168,000 project saw the removal of more than a kilometre of overhead power lines and 14 wooden poles from the countryside

Between 2010 and 2015 UK Power Networks has a special allowance of £6.6million from the industry regulator, Ofgem, to invest in projects to replace overhead lines with underground cables in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and National Parks in the South East.