On 5/16/2016 3:14 PM, Mike Tomlinson wrote:

"This is because the two reservoirs are linked by one of Britains biggest
post-war industrial projects: the Dinorwig pumped storage power station,
hidden within this mountain. It is effectively a monster battery: power is
stored by pumping water from Llyn Peris to Marchlyn Mawr at night, then
generated by letting it flow back down at times of peak demand"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/05...tric_mountain/


Never been there, but there used to be (perhaps still is) an interesting
drive through big underground tunnels to get to the control rooms for
RAF Fylingdales. I had the good fortune in the 1980s to have a tour
including the inside of one of the original Golf-balls which contained
big steerable parabolic dishes, in the days before phased array radar.

This was seriously impressive mechanical engineering (and had an
amazingly good availability). I can't immediately spot any web links,
but it's the sort of thing which should have been preserved, but hasn't
been.

It was also a bit of a time warp, being manned by RAF officers with more
than a passing resemblance to Peter Sellers' Wing Commander in Dr
Strangelove.

We watched a video of a test made on an American site, but they also ran
a test for us there, after talking to their opposite numbers in Wyoming.

In the American film, as the blips were confirmed on the screens to
controller drawled slowly "We are entering a severe tactical situation".
At the same point in the UK test, the two RAF officers were literally
hopping up and down with excitement, saying "It's a raid, it's a raid,
it's definitely a raid!".