do live near pylons or might be tempted to?

When DD1 was selling houses, it didn’t seem to put people off, as the houses nearest the pylons had the best views - on the edge of the developments. Families were more interested in the property/schools/amenities.

I thought I would share this poem with you.

Pylons by Stephen Spender

The secret of these hills was stone, and cottages
Of that stone made,
And crumbling roads
That turned on sudden hidden villages

Now over these small hills, they have built the concrete
That trails black wire
Pylons, those pillars
Bare like nude giant girls that have no secret.

The valley with its gilt and evening look
And the green chestnut
Of customary root,
Are mocked dry like the parched bed of a brook.

But far above and far as sight endures
Like whips of anger
With lightning's danger
There runs the quick perspective of the future.

This dwarfs our emerald country by its trek
So tall with prophecy
Dreaming of cities
Where often clouds shall lean their swan-white neck.

I wouldn't like to live near one. It's an interesting question, infoman, because it's caused me to stop and think about my prejudices.
Maybe I'm closer to the tinfoil hat wearers than I thought.

More than 60 years ago my granny had a small holding and had goats and grew daffodils as a crop and had many different poultry etc etc. She was a very good farmer and looked after all her stock and land to the best of her ability. Then the wretched electricity people demanded that they put a horrible great pylon in her meadow. She actually met them at the gate with a shotgun, but being lawabiding, when she was told that they had the right to put it there, she let them come in, and put the gun away. But I never forgot it and remember being angry that they had the right to come in without your agreement , even though you owned the land. What made it worse was at the time she had no electricity in the house and they did not even provide it for her then!! At that time we had lovely tilley lights and a range etc etc, but later did get electricity. I would never choose to live near a pylon if I had the choice!

In the area I might move to there are a lot of pylons. Houses in close proximity to one have been lingering on the market for a very long time despite being otherwise very desirable. No financial bribe from Starmer would compensate for my house being impossible to sell. Overhead electricity and telephone cables are not a problem and are a normal feature of the countryside.

It’s either “those darn things marching across the landscape” or wind turbines, which aren’t really as easy to ignore!

Depends on how close they were. I live in a rural area. Power lines, telegraph poles etc are part of the landscape. We receive £15 pa because we have an electricity pole on one of our paddocks, it provides power to us and our three nearest neighbours. I wouldn't want to live too close to a pylon but they have to go somewhere or we will need to pay more for our power as putting cables underground is much more expensive.

I’m already old and there would be no young children living with me so as I say not a concern to me. My Bil hated them he lived in rural Wales and he used to say look at those darn things just ‘marching’ across the landscape.

I wouldn’t but purely for aesthetic reasons. A few years ago, however, there was a lot of concern about an increase in incidence of childhood leukaemia in areas where there were pylons.
This from a Government report:
“There are a number of studies showing a possible link between exposure to magnetic fields in the home (and/or living close to high voltage power lines) and a small excess of childhood leukaemia.
“It is estimated that 2 to 5 cases from the total of around 500 cases of childhood leukaemia per year in the UK could be attributable to magnetic fields.
“This number is based on the assumption that exposure has to be above a certain threshold before there could be a health effect. The overall evidence, however, is not strong enough to draw a firm conclusion that magnetic fields cause childhood leukaemia”.
I’m sure that would be enough in itself to put people with young families off.

Outside our town, we had pylons dominating the skyline and blighting the countryside.
To allow for new housing and a train station, they were removed. It must have taken about twenty years, from the planning stage to their removal.
I would not want to live near them.

On a lighter note, I had a friend, who was out for a country walk, in the vicinity of these pylons. She was absolutely desperate for the loo and went behind a hedge, looking for privacy. Just as she was rearranging herself, she looked up and saw a linesman at the top of the pylon beside her. He had the perfect view. 🤣

How near would it have to be to get this money though? Probably next to your garden? I wouldn’t want them anywhere near my home, thank you!

It would bother me, and I would not buy a property near one.

I just lost out on buying a house with one in close proximity it wouldn’t bother me.

A big no from me.

houses very close to pylons were very hard to sell when I lived in a s wales village

It was never the sight of them but actually living very close that was offputting. The wires would buzz in damp weather