OUT Rawcliffe may not be the centre of the eco-universe - but villagers believe in doing their stuff to reduce the rural area's carbon footprint.
Rising electricity bills at the village hall prompted hall officials to think about ways of saving costs - and with the help of
former Garstang Partnership boss Fred Attwater decided on creating their own electricity with the help of a wind turbine.
The 15 metre high solitary wind turbine has been a feature on the Over Wyre landscape for almost a year, but was given its formal "switch on" last month by Wyre mayor Coun Keith Riley.
The VIP visit to the village hall incorporated a display outlining the background to the turbine and "green theme" project activities by pupils of the nearby Out Rawcliffe CE School.
Village hall committee member Michael Gardner said the need to save costs on the hall's heating and lighting bills had led to the suggestion from Mr Attwater (a specialist in knowing how to tap into funding rescources) of siting a wind turbine next door.
The projected cost of £54,000 alarmed villagers, but at the end of the day they only had to come up with £4,000 - the rest of the finance coming from generous grants from the government, the Leader+ project and Garstang Partnership.
The wind turbine, which has three blades, has been standing proud on the landscape since earlier this year, but only began working this autumn due to a design fault, which has now been rectified.
Mr Gardner said there had been a good response in the rural community to the wind turbine, which is now a well known landmark in the flatlands of Over Wyre.
He added: "It is very much a positive response, though we have had a lot of ribbing about the design fault which put it out of action for a few months."
The turbine not only produces power to provide about half the energy needed for the lighting and heating of the village hall, but surplus power which will be pumped into the National Grid - for which the village hall will get paid around £700 a year.
Mr Gardner said: "Alternative energy sources and carbon footprints are the order of the day, and we are pleased to be playing our part."
A similar scheme has also been completed at Bleasdale with the help of Garstang Partnership - and there are plans in the pipeline for a much larger wind turbine at Dew-Lay dairy, off the A6 near Garstang which are likely to be subject of a formal planning application early in the new year.


* THE modern "windmills" at Out Rawcliffe and Bleasdale may be hi-tech, but they are by no means the first pieces of engineering to
harness the power of the wind.
Since yesteryear the Fylde / Wyre area has been known as "Windmill land" partly because of the number of windmills on the Fylde penninsular.
It was christened "Windmill Land" around 100 years ago by popular journalist Allen Clarke who wrote on rural topics under the pen-name of Teddy Ashton.
Many of the structures Clarke knew still remain, including the former mills at Pilling and Kirkham which have been converted into attractive "pepperpot" homes.
The former Preesall mill is now used as industrial units and Marsh Mill at Thornton is now a museum/tourist attraction.
Prior to the building of the tower mills there were a number of wooden "Peg Mills" structures in the Fylde/Wyre area, including at Warton and Hambleton.