Whitelee Windfarm

• Location:  Moor Rd, Eaglesham, Glasgow G76 0QQ
• Opening times: 10am – 4pm Monday – Friday, 10am – 5pm Saturday and Sunday.
• Entry: Free
• Access: Free parking onsite

Whitelee is the UK’s largest onshore wind farm and is operated by ScottishPower Renewables. How big is it? This big: it has 215 turbines and generates enough energy to power more than a quarter of a million homes, has an internal road network of over 130km (80 miles) and stretches 12km (7.5 miles) from east to west. It straddles three local authority areas, East Renfrewshire (where the visitor centre is located), East Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire. It is also the second largest wind farm in Europe, after Fântânele-Cogealic in Romania.

The second main attraction at Whitelee is that 130km of trails, which are suitable for walkers, cyclists, and horse riding; the only vehicles allowed on these roads are service vehicles for the wind farm. The visitor can wander at their leisure, but there are designated trails for all levels of fitness, the shortest being 5.1km (3.2 miles) long, while the longest is a 17.8km (11.1 miles) one-way trek from the visitor centre to East Kilbride (35.7km / 22.2 miles return). Those wanting to enjoy the scenery at a more leisurely pace can board one of the attraction’s daily bus tours, which cost £4 per adult at the time of my visit.

The primary attraction is, of course, those 215 turbines stretching as far as the eye can see, making this a moorland walk unlike any other. Some might consider them a blot on the landscape, but apart from their essential role in providing clean, renewable energy, I think these giants, ranging from 110 metres to 140 metres tall, are rather elegant as they perform their graceful, oddly near silent pirouetting across the countryside.  Along the way the landscape is dotted with other interesting visual features such as the Lochgoin Reservoir, the Lochgoin Monument, which commemorates Scottish biographer John Howie, and the distinctive knob of Dunwan Hill, with its remains of an ancient hillfort.  

The visitor centre has an excellent exhibition about the wind farm, and climate change in general, where I learned that the first electricity generating wind turbine was built by Scottish engineer James Blyth in his garden in 1887, and that the bit that connects a turbine’s rotor to its tower is called the nacelle. So, now you know! There are some engaging hands-on activities for children of all ages, such as feeling the force of the wind inside a mini wind tunnel, or testing one’s ability to operate the turbines (apologies to those quarter of a million households I spectacularly failed to provide for). A small café provides refreshments for those in need after their walk.

Destination or Diversion?

As stated above, one can tailor their walk or bike ride according to their level of fitness, but for one and all Whitelee Windfarm is a destination that makes for an energising day out with a difference.