Opening in 1971, Aberthaw B Power Station was the second station to be built in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. Constructed adjacent to each other, and of similar physical size, each of the B station's turbo generators could output almost as much electricity as all six of the A station's units combined. With a total output of 1,560 MW the B station was a bit of a beast, really, and what a beauty of a beast this one turned out to be. Just about old enough to retain some of the brutal engineering charm of the era, and with a quirky layout, I feel this one would be near the top of the list in a game of Rank The Power Stations, if anyone was to ever play such a game.
It's been interesting watching this one develop over the course of 18 months since its closure too. As always with these kind of places, it went from a state of being pretty much a walk-in but having to avoid the workers, to that nice intermediate stage of becoming a bit tighter while still being able to access everything, and finally sealed up pretty well with the reward of having the place to yourself. My third visit was just that, a solo mission resulting in me being entirely alone in the huge structure on a lovely spring day, feeling pretty tranquil. I couldn't help but wonder what a Welsh prostitute would be called.
I've loved all the trips we've had here, firstly with @The Amateur Wanderer shortly after closure, followed by a visit with @SpiderMonkey and our mate Matt where we basically just got drunk for the day, and finally the trip on my own to see what else I could find. The timing of my last trip wasn't ideal - after putting it off for so long due to Covid restrictions, most of what I wanted to see was no longer accessible, was in complete darkness, or had been stripped out. I'm still very happy with what I've seen around the pace, nonetheless, even if coverage is a little less than other stations over the last few years.
View of the power station from the ash mounds
What better place to start than in the turbine hall...
By the time of my second visit one of the units had been dismantled, but the remaining ones looked great in daylight.
There were a few nice bits nestled below the turbines, such as this local control panel for the boiler feed pumps
The station had an unusual arrangement of its key areas, and had this weird intermediary section between the turbine hall and the boilers.
I've never seen a power station with this kind of layout before
Heading deeper, we next find the coal bunkers positioned between the turbine hall and boilers.
Although not unseen before, this isn't a common position for the bunkers, and the position of the mills seemed very odd. It actually took us a while to find the mills at first!
The boiler house was pretty nice too, as boiler houses go. Quite a few interesting features
The control had been heavily modified, but wasn't bad as heavily modified control rooms go
The control room was secured with pretty hefty maglocks the first time we tried to access it, and by the next visit had been powered down but locked up with padlocks, so sadly I never got a chance to go inside despite looking for any other route. The glass doorways and a nice viewing area still provided some opportunities for photos though, so not all was lost
Heading over to the Gas Turbine House...
The building had been powered down by the time I got around to visiting and had no natural light inside, so I had to light paint it.
And finally, the first photos I took here while we waited for the workers to bugger off home - inside the coal bunkers and overlooking the coal yard
Ciao for now.
Oh yeah.... she was called Baaaaaabara!
It's been interesting watching this one develop over the course of 18 months since its closure too. As always with these kind of places, it went from a state of being pretty much a walk-in but having to avoid the workers, to that nice intermediate stage of becoming a bit tighter while still being able to access everything, and finally sealed up pretty well with the reward of having the place to yourself. My third visit was just that, a solo mission resulting in me being entirely alone in the huge structure on a lovely spring day, feeling pretty tranquil. I couldn't help but wonder what a Welsh prostitute would be called.
I've loved all the trips we've had here, firstly with @The Amateur Wanderer shortly after closure, followed by a visit with @SpiderMonkey and our mate Matt where we basically just got drunk for the day, and finally the trip on my own to see what else I could find. The timing of my last trip wasn't ideal - after putting it off for so long due to Covid restrictions, most of what I wanted to see was no longer accessible, was in complete darkness, or had been stripped out. I'm still very happy with what I've seen around the pace, nonetheless, even if coverage is a little less than other stations over the last few years.
View of the power station from the ash mounds
What better place to start than in the turbine hall...
By the time of my second visit one of the units had been dismantled, but the remaining ones looked great in daylight.
There were a few nice bits nestled below the turbines, such as this local control panel for the boiler feed pumps
The station had an unusual arrangement of its key areas, and had this weird intermediary section between the turbine hall and the boilers.
I've never seen a power station with this kind of layout before
Heading deeper, we next find the coal bunkers positioned between the turbine hall and boilers.
Although not unseen before, this isn't a common position for the bunkers, and the position of the mills seemed very odd. It actually took us a while to find the mills at first!
The boiler house was pretty nice too, as boiler houses go. Quite a few interesting features
The control had been heavily modified, but wasn't bad as heavily modified control rooms go
The control room was secured with pretty hefty maglocks the first time we tried to access it, and by the next visit had been powered down but locked up with padlocks, so sadly I never got a chance to go inside despite looking for any other route. The glass doorways and a nice viewing area still provided some opportunities for photos though, so not all was lost
Heading over to the Gas Turbine House...
The building had been powered down by the time I got around to visiting and had no natural light inside, so I had to light paint it.
And finally, the first photos I took here while we waited for the workers to bugger off home - inside the coal bunkers and overlooking the coal yard
Ciao for now.
Oh yeah.... she was called Baaaaaabara!
