[georgie]

after seeing recent reports of thorpe marsh i thought id try and put a different angle on it

tower 2 or tower 4 whatever way you look at it is the only tower out the 6 which is intact inside and provides a nice little climb up the concrete beams and up through the wierd plastic stuff ,(which i nearly went right through on the way down) was well worth the effort.

it takes you to an upper gantry with lots of walkways and water troughs, it was quite an experience up there no high views here although im estimating about 50ft-ish ,could be wrong but it was a bloody big drop if you fell. I thought it looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. Then with a little bit more climbing involved you go up another level onto some strange wooden walkway this one was like an x shape

a bit of history on the power station

Construction of the station began in 1959, it being built as a prototype for all the large modern power stations in the UK. It was commissioned between 1963 and 1965. It contained 2 generating sets powered by coal, and had a gas turbine set using an industrial static version of a Rolls-Royce Avon aero engine with a capacity of 14.9 MW. On 7 January 1973 four workmen died. The CEGB was put under investigation for breaches in safety provisions but they were found to have all died accidental deaths.

Initially being operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board, the station was operated by National Power following privatisation in 1990. The station closed a few years later in 1994. The 45 acres (18 ha) site was acquired by Able UK in 1995. Much of the station has been demolished and now only its six cooling towers (each 340 ft (100 m) high and 260 ft (79 m) in diameter at the base), two ash slurry hoppers, railway sidings and the station's large adjacent electricity switching station still remain. The switching station was nearly flooded during the 2007 Yorkshire flood, which would have knocked the grid out according to news reports. The structures still stand now because it is feared that any explosion would cause the banks of the nearby canal to rupture. They also contain asbestos, which would contaminate land for miles around the site. There have been several controversial proposals for the site, including a car distribution depot and more recently a huge landfill site, neither of which have proven popular with the local residents.

The power station's cooling towers were featured in the final episode of the 1999 ITV drama, The Last Train, and in the first episode of the 2009 Channel 4 drama Red Riding.

visited with kevsy21

tower 2


ground zero






first sight as you climb the beams




walkway throught the middle


the middle water thingy




water trough


a walk around the outer shows more troughs this was prob the main one












up a bit further reveals another walkway