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A $356,052 (£280,000) project in Ludlow has vastly improved the view of a site in Shropshire and the speed of restoration to 638 homes.

As part of Western Power Distribution’s ongoing initiative to enhance protected landscapes, Clee Hill Common is the largest of eight sites in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) that have been transformed to date.

In October, 950 metres of overhead electricity lines on Clee Hill were placed underground, and 21 wooden poles were removed.

Two overhead transformers were replaced with a ground-mounted package substation containing full automation. Switchgear at Clee Hill Plant has also been fully upgraded with two fully automated RN6 ring main units, which allow the network between Ludlow, Tenbury and Cleobury Mortimer primary substations to be split there.

“This project involved nearly every member of staff at the Ludlow depot at some point, requiring the skills of jointers, linesmen, fitters and extra help on shutdowns from technicians,” said Jeremy Tyler, an overhead technician. “We were faced with undergrounding nearly 1km of 11kV at a depth of one meter. Seventy percent of the excavation was through solid rock, so 360 track-machine diggers were used to complete the digging.”

The work has received much praise, including from local Member of Parliament (MP) Phillip Dunne, who visited the site.

“The work will improve the visual amenity at one of the AONB’s most iconic viewpoints,” said Shropshire Hills AONB partnership manager Phil Holden. “In terms of public benefit, this scheme will deliver on a large scale, as it is one of the most visited sites in the Shropshire Hills.”