July 13, 2007
U.K.
U.K.
The simple plaque reads: “Flodden 1513. To the brave of both nations”.
It sits on a plinth beside a stone cross on the hill above Branxton, barely three miles south of the Scottish border.
If local wind farm proposals get the green light, two areas of development will be clearly visible from there – Barmoor, some five miles to the east, and Toft Hill towards the north.
To romantics, it’s a disturbing thought.
These days, Flodden Field is a peaceful and haunting monument. Birdsong brings it to life and prevents it from getting too maudlin.
The landscape has possibly not changed all that much in the intervening 500 years, apart from agricultural drainage and some deforestation.
A straw poll of six visitors to the site, including two Americans fascinated with English history, came to the conclusion that the intrusion of 360ft turbines into this place of quiet contemplation where 10,000 soldiers and the cream of the Scottish aristocracy died – including King James V – would be an ugly and unwelcome intrusion.
by Peter Leathley
13 July 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/07/13/the-quiet-battlefield/