We took Tom Scott up a pylon for his final video
YouTube star Tom Scott has been to some unusual places. But he’d never been to the top of one of our 22,000 electricity transmission towers – until now.
Seven years ago we took YouTube star Tom Scott deep underground to check out the first phase of our London Power Tunnels project to rewire the capital.
Fast forward to 2023, and Tom joined us again to share more insight with his followers into Britain’s electricity transmission network. This time he headed skyward, for a journey only a few experts are qualified to take – right to the top of a 120ft pylon.
Tomorrow’s network will take a different shape, connecting us to clean energy out at sea – meaning new infrastructure, in new places
In his final video, Tom visited our Eakring training facility in Nottinghamshire where he was shown the ropes by our crack overhead lines team, and got a taste of the dizzying heights they work at on a daily basis.
“It was a real privilege to be able to head up a pylon with the National Grid team,” said Tom. “Thanks so much to everyone who made it possible! And hopefully it'll resonate with the viewers of my channel too.”
Tom’s video – which draws to a close 10 years of weekly content on his globally popular YouTube channel – outlines how the shape of Britain’s electricity grid is changing as we connect more clean power from sources such as offshore wind.
This year saw the 70th anniversary of the original supergrid, which ushered in a new energy era in Britain in the fifties. Through our Great Grid Upgrade, we’re now building the next supergrid to spearhead a new clean energy transition.
Sarah Woolham-Jaffier, who works on new strategic infrastructure projects as part of the Great Grid Upgrade, shares her expert insight as part of Tom’s video.
“It was great to talk to Tom about how our grid is changing,” said Sarah. “Where the early supergrid was built around the power plants of the Midlands, tomorrow’s network will take a different shape, connecting us to clean energy out at sea – meaning new infrastructure, in new places.
“We’re already planning and building that network of the future, with different projects playing their part. For example our London Power Tunnels project is reinforcing power supplies in the capital, our new T-pylons in the south west are bringing low carbon electricity to millions, and our interconnectors are exchanging renewable power with our neighbours – all of which is helping Britain reach net zero.”
Tom isn’t the only star of the screen to scale our pylons recently. Earlier in the year Guy Martin joined our lines team to try his hand at some overhead line maintenance for a Channel 4 series.
Both features take place at Eakring – our unique training facility where our apprentices and graduates are learning the net zero and high voltage engineering skills needed for the future.
Find out more about careers and new talent programmes at National Grid
