Pylon hunt 14: Sindlesham, 12th August 2023

At some point during 2021 or 2022 I saw a bizarre-looking pylon out of a car window on the way to Reading. It was an angle tower, yet it used suspension insulators instead of tension insulators, a practice that by all indications was not applied in the UK. Using Google Street View and the Open Infrastructure Map I was able to trace the location to a field between Sindlesham and Earley, close to the M4 motorway.

Finally in August 2023 I got my one chance to go down on the train and visit it in person and document it. Being Britain, the weather was predictably uncooperative. Sindlesham doesn’t have a railway station, but the neighbouring village of Winnersh has two, so that is where I disembarked.

The first train on the way down was standing room only, the third was busy but not full, and the final one was also packed out.

Due to time constraints, I didn’t photograph much of Winnersh or Sindlesham. I would have liked to have explored both places, and with luck I will return another day in better weather. Frustratingly, the sun went away as I headed for Sindlesham, and came back when I returned to Winnersh!

The route took me through Sindlesham and onto public footpaths.

Finally, here is the mystery pylon. It turns out to be a standard type used across Britain, designed by Milliken Brothers and designated D10. However, I live in the former South-East England region and the original national grid lines there were built using GEC and Callender’s towers instead of Milliken. (There is evidence to suggest that not all regions with Milliken towers used D10 and S10, and it appears that both the GEC and Callender’s types lacked D10 and S10.)

Although Reading appears to come under the SEE region, this line appears to be built using SWE towers and is tentatively deemed part of the SWE PL1 scheme.

Some curious 11 kV lines in this area; here you see a regularly-spaced line with a narrow-spaced line teed off. Narrow-spaced 11 kV lines supposedly use insulated conductors, which a bird can’t short between phases.

Returning to Sindlesham …

Fortunately there was time to sit down in a nice Winnersh cafe before making the return journey.

Interesting buildings and the all-new electrification seen from the train on the approach to Reading station:

Reading station:

The journey from Padding to Reading was on an IET. I assumed that I would return on the same type. While photographing the various trains I came across an empty Electrostar bound for Paddington, and boarded that train instead. Despite the rattly internal gangway doors, it offered a more comfortable and more pleasant ride than the IET on the way down.

Then onto St Pancras International:

And heading home …