LEYTONSTONE: Pylon society boosted by national contest (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

LEYTONSTONE: Pylon society boosted by national contest

1:10pm Wednesday 25th May 2011 in Waltham Forest News By Daniel Binns

A LEYTONSTONE resident with a passion for pylons has welcomed a new Government competition to design the next generation of the metal towers.

Flash Bristow, of Davies Lane, is well known locally for her involvement in community campaigns but has gained national attention for the Pylon Appreciation Society which she founded in 2005.

There are more than 88,000 electricity pylons in the UK but hundreds more will have to be built under Government plans for new power stations.

And so this week the Department of Energy, in partnership with the National Grid and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), launched a competition appealing for new designs for the devices.

The contest has given a boost to Ms Bristow's organisation, which has around 500 members, and attracted national media interest.

"I like them on different levels. They are like giant people and a brilliant piece of engineering", she explained in a previous Guardian interview.

"I think they are graceful and add something to the landscape."

Ms Bristow said she was "very excited" about the competition, however unfortunately only professional architects, designers, engineers and the subjects' students can enter.

Most British pylons are based on a design by the architect Sir Reginald Blomfield, which itself was the result of a competition in 1927.

However they have remained virtually unchanged since then.

Her own interest was sparked in 1990 after watching a National Power advert showing pylons walking across the landscape.

Ms Bristow, whose favourite local pylon is located by the Sainsbury's car park opposite Walthamstow Stadium in Chingford, admits her interest may seem strange to some.

But she said: "I have met members who have said they thought they were the only one. They are so pleased to find people with the same interest as themselves.

"It is an odd hobby - but I'm not alone in it."

Visit pylons.org for more information on the society and www.ribapylondesign.com for details of the competition.

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