The Visual Impact Provision project in the Peak District National Park in South Yorkshire aimed to reduce the visual impact of National Grid’s overhead line in and around the village of Dunford Bridge.

Stakeholders agreed that the best way achieve this was to remove a section of this overhead line and replace it with an underground electricity connection. It represented a major opportunity to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and environmental heritage of this precious Peak District landscape.
 

The section of overhead line

The section of overhead line that has been removed and replaced with underground cables runs from an existing sealing end compound near to the eastern entrance of the Woodhead Tunnel at Dunford Bridge, then heads eastwards along the River Don along the National Park boundary and out of the Park.

It is part of the 400kV electricity route connecting Stalybridge, Stocksbridge and Thorpe Marsh 400kV substations. The line was constructed between 1966 and 1967 and serves as an integral connection point for the local distribution network for the Manchester area.