The BORE war! Electricity pylon fan boasts his new calendar is even MORE boring than rival tribute to allotments produced by ‘Britain’s dullest man’

• A new calendar features a different pylon each month in a trading card format
• This calendar promises you will ‘sound like an expert’ when talking about pylons 

An electricity pylon enthusiast has revealed a brand new calendar which he claims is even duller than a rival calender about allotments produced by ‘Britain’s most boring man’.

Featuring 12 glossy shots of steel giants, buyers will have the chance to peruse some of the UK’s ‘most interesting’ pylons.

This country has a rich tradition and history of mundane calendars – and this one is no exception.

Last year, Brits were treated to a calendar of the best motorways in the country.

And people who are into allotments can buy a calendar from Kevin Beresford, featuring gardening plots across the country with beautiful grey skies as a backdrop.

Pictured, Stuart Atkinson from Manchester who is throwing his hat into the ring for Britain’s most boring calendar

Featuring 12 glossy shots, people will have the chance to peruse some of the UK’s ‘most interesting’ pylons

According to the listing on Etsy, you will ‘sound like an expert when discussing high-voltage transmission infrastructure’

The calendar is presented as a trading card format with ‘interesting’ information about each structure

Pictured, Kevin Beresford who compiled his 12 favourite allotments and is Mr Atkinson’s rival for the creator of the most boring calendar of 2024 

Mr Beresford also released a calendar featuring the best shots of British roundabouts and another one with interesting shots of Jack Grealish’s calves.

The mastermind behind the pylons calendar is Stuart Atkinson, from Manchester, who works for a hazardous waste company that takes him all over the country.

His magnum opus is giving serious competition to his rival Mr Beresford by promising to provide ‘interesting’ pylon facts buyers may never have known about. 

Although he admits it was started as a joke, he has always had an interest in the structures from childhood.

‘I’ve always had a slight interest,’ he told the Mail Online, ‘even as a child.

‘There was a big pylon outside the school that I took a picture of.

‘And obviously I go all over the country for my work and when you start looking at them, you start wondering, ‘what does that one do? Why is it like that?’

‘So I started compiling all this information and when you start educating people, their face glazes over.’

With Christmas just around the corner, many might already be considering what to buy their loved ones and a calendar is usually a safe present.

But if you want to really treat someone this year then look no further than ‘Pylons: A look at the UK’s high-voltage electricity transmission network’ on sale for only £12.99.

Pylon enthusiasts will be able to view some of the most interesting structures in the country, with information displayed in a trading card format.

According to the listing on Etsy, you will ‘sound like an expert when discussing high-voltage transmission infrastructure’ and ‘never feel embarrassed again during pylon-related conversation’.

Mr Atkinson pictured close to one of his favourite pylons near his home in the northwest of England

The first pylon was erected in Britain in 1928 and the design has remained relatively unchanged

‘But then I found out that people were actually quite a few people are quite interested in this.’

There are dedicated pylon societies, such as the Pylon Appreciation Society which has collected more than 530 photos of pylons from 36 different countries.

While many have heard of trainspotters, there is a dedicated subculture of pylon spotters.

One spotter, Oxfordshire physics teacher Kevin Mosedale, 47, started pylonofthemonth.org which is a dedicated blog showcasing all of the different pylons across the globe.

The UK’s first pylon design was inspired by the root of the word ‘pylon’ which means an Egyptian gateway to the sun

When asked what makes an interesting pylon, Mr Atkinson said: ‘A lot of them are similar shapes but you do get some oddball ones too, some may have triple circuits too and others are painted different colours.

‘You also get ones that span over rivers, for example, the ones over the Thames or the Severn or Forth in Scotland.

‘They’re the three longest and they’re really, at about 200metres (656ft) high.

‘I mean, they’ve all got a beauty I suppose.

‘There’s one in Florida that looks like Mickey Mouse, in Iceland, there’s a couple that look like people running.

The pylon fanatic said he started the project as a joke because there is something innately British about eccentric interests

Stuart Atkinson said the UK has an old design but it is also ‘quite a good design’ and many people have an expanse of knowledge about the structures

‘But we have quite a good design in this country. It’s quite an old design from the 1920s.’

The first electricity pylon in the UK was built near Edinburgh in 1928 and was designed by architect Sir Reginald Blomfield.

He designed the pylons in a lattice design to be more delicate than the brutalist structures used in Europe and the US.

Also, the design was inspired by the root of the word pylon which means an Egyptian gateway to the sun.

Materials and the amount of electricity pylons carry have changed over the years but the design remains relatively unchanged until now.

‘We love the boring things, us Brits,’ he concluded, ‘I think it’s just British humour.

‘We like to fixate on things and are into quirky things.

‘But I think if you look at each month in the calendar, there’s some interesting information.

‘Either a fun fact or something you wouldn’t know. That’s got to be educational for anyone.

‘I mean, we sort of laugh at people who have that sort of expanse of knowledge but I think as a nation we also like it in a way as well.

‘I expect people to glaze over when I start talking about it, but people tend to be interested when you point out something out and explain why things are built in a certain way.

‘It’s just a bit of a hobby that’s got out of control.’

You can order your very own 2024 Pylon calendar HERE for just £12.99 on Etsy.

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