Ashton Windmill at Chappel Allerton on the Isle of Wedmore lies in an exposed spot. You can see Cheddar Gorge, Brent Knoll and much of the Somerset Levels from up there. Being so exposed, it is certainly a windy spot. The mill dates from the eighteenth century but milling has gone on here since the fourteenth century. Our ancestors realised that the energy of the weather - in the form of wind - could be harnessed and turned to their advantage. Meteorologists tend to focus on the destructive effects of that energy: the West Country is frequently battered by gales of 60 to 70 MPH. A big raincloud can dump millions of litres of water in just a few hours; and a big electrical storm can release as much energy as 10 Hiroshima’s. Tornadoes - even here in the West Country - are quite capable of flinging motor cars and even cattle into the air. If we are to take the threat of global warming seriously then we need to take a leaf out of the book of the millers of Wedmore. Wind energy doesn’t produce any greenhouse gases and the hills and coasts of the West Country are certainly windy enough. The downside is that to generate as much energy as, say, Hinkley Point, we’d need thousands of medium-sized turbines across the West Country. Whilst some of us would argue that turbines are aesthetically pleasing - moving sculptures if you will - others see them as eyesores. There were plenty of objectors to proposals for a wind turbine at Nympsfield in Gloucestershire in 1999. If not wind powers, then how about energy from the sun? We probably get more sunshine than you think. Even if we had as much sunshine as California, we’d need to cover about one fifth of the West Country with solar panels in order to meet all our energy needs. The Sun delivers an average of 400 watts of energy over every square metre of the Earth’s surface. Some of that energy is uncontrollable - thunderstorms, downpours and gales we just have to endure. The challenge is to make the most of that energy when it comes in a more benign and friendly form. A challenge that was first met on the Somerset hills more than 600 years ago. | 
