visited with DrHowser, HiddenShadow, Gone, Millhouse, Sho, Tweek and NickUK
Inverkip, Scotlands first Oil fired power station was built in the early 70s in the heyday of cheap oil, but after the 1973 OAPEC Oil embargo and resulting soaring price of crude, the powerstation was deemed uneconomical to run at full capacity by the time it was complete. Of the 1900 megawatts available from its three turbines, 1200 megawatts of it were mothballed, the remaining capacity being used to top up the grid at peak times with a few notable exceptions..
With coal being in short supply at the height of the miners strike in '84/'85, Inverkip's ginormous 778ft tower (the tallest free standing structure in Scotland) served as a middle finger from Maggie Thatcher to Arthur Scargil, which was run at full capacity to beat the stranglehold the miners had placed on the UKs coal reserves.
Generation ceased completely in 1988, with the plant being mothballed until it was decommission in 2006. There are currently plans to build a large housing and business park on the site, with the three large tanks being removed in the past couple of years.
After a comedy entrance and a freezing cold snooze in the famous control room, walking into the main turbine hall with the glorious winter sun beating down through the huge windows was a pretty awesome sight. A proper days explore of this absolutely mint site topped off with the highest free standing structure in Scotland has firmly planted Inverkip power station in my favourites bin.
Epic.
Props to Millhouse, Gone, Tweek, NickUK, HiddenShadow, Dr Howser and Sho for a sick weekend - especially for Millhouse, HS and DrH for the driving.
The Control Room
Apart from the totally awesome red dye sprayed all over everything in here, this room is rubbish
The Turbine Hall
As gantry cranes go, this one takes the biscuit.
The outer glass walls.
The Chimney
Made of almost a million and a half bricks and standing at a massive 236 meters, the 4-stack chimney is an absolute beast. Totally stoked to have gotten up here - the icing on the Invercake
Wildlife.
Ski-slopes
Scottish Nub Club.
NEWS FLASH: Following the slowdown of the housing market and the Euro-zone crisis, the plans to turn Inverkip into a housing estate have been put on hold to make way for Scotlands biggest DerpStep venue, which has already been put through its paces by our top-secret crack rave conga team. More on that story HERE
