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This is a view over Sellafield, the nuclear plant on the west coast of Cumbria. Cumbria is the home of nature poetry and picturesque landscape. It is also the home of poor upland farmers and the remains of local industries. Young people leave for the cities and some older people retire here. And it is a safe enough distance from cities for risky and unpopular technologies. Tourists turn their back on Sellafield to look at the hills. The vast plant on the coast, although visible from afar, does not feature in many of the works of the Lakeland artists nor do those few who walk the coastal path usually carry a Geiger counter. As in many parts of the world, the countryside is being emptied, to be used for tourism, old people and the dumping of waste products. These 'dreaming spires' are monuments to the death of the pastoral; few visitors wish to share this dream.