The History
Ironbridge B power station sits on 141 hectre site astride the River Severn about a mile upstream for the iron bridge it's host town is named after. Last operated by EON Ironbridge was originally coal powered and later converted to use biomass.
Ironbridge B power station ceased generating electricity on 20 November 2015, with the decommissioning process expected to continue into 2018 although luckily the unique pink towers will potentially be left standing.
Construction began in 1963 and Ironbridge B began feeding power into the National Grid in June 1969
The power station was cleverly designed to blend into its natural surroundings so that when viewed from Ironbridge town the whole site is hidden behind woodland which sits on the River Severn's interlocking spurs. The 4 pretty pink cooling towers were made by adding red pigment to concrete which went further to lessen the eyesore of a power station only a mile from a World Heritage Site, the idea was that they would match the natural soil colour of the area.
Following on from the pretty towers the station's single chimney stands at 205 m (673 ft) making it the fifth tallest chimney in the UK !
The Explore
Having last year spent a good few hours sneaking about Ironbridge with Clebby all in torrential rain and only getting as far as the bottom of the cooling towers. Then falling into a stream and sacking it off for the day with the only building we managed to infiltrate being the nearby caravan parks shower block to dry off under their hand-dryers I was very excited when @mockney reject suggested we give it a go last weekend.
After getting freaked by a large heard of deer, and a few fence based impalings we were onto the site.
Unfortunately we didn't find a way into the main buildings however the giant metal climbing frame next to them is well worth the trip on its own.
A lot of the ladders had been inconveniently snipped off at the bottom and it took a fair bit of wandering around before we started going up. Up and up we went trying all options into the main buildings but with no luck.
Eventually we ended up on the roof catching some pretty spectacular views of the chimney (the UK's 5th highest!), towers and lots of good twisty pipey metalwork before heading off.
The chimney from the very bottom up
Ironbridge B power station sits on 141 hectre site astride the River Severn about a mile upstream for the iron bridge it's host town is named after. Last operated by EON Ironbridge was originally coal powered and later converted to use biomass.
Ironbridge B power station ceased generating electricity on 20 November 2015, with the decommissioning process expected to continue into 2018 although luckily the unique pink towers will potentially be left standing.
Construction began in 1963 and Ironbridge B began feeding power into the National Grid in June 1969
The power station was cleverly designed to blend into its natural surroundings so that when viewed from Ironbridge town the whole site is hidden behind woodland which sits on the River Severn's interlocking spurs. The 4 pretty pink cooling towers were made by adding red pigment to concrete which went further to lessen the eyesore of a power station only a mile from a World Heritage Site, the idea was that they would match the natural soil colour of the area.
Following on from the pretty towers the station's single chimney stands at 205 m (673 ft) making it the fifth tallest chimney in the UK !
The Explore
Having last year spent a good few hours sneaking about Ironbridge with Clebby all in torrential rain and only getting as far as the bottom of the cooling towers. Then falling into a stream and sacking it off for the day with the only building we managed to infiltrate being the nearby caravan parks shower block to dry off under their hand-dryers I was very excited when @mockney reject suggested we give it a go last weekend.
After getting freaked by a large heard of deer, and a few fence based impalings we were onto the site.
Unfortunately we didn't find a way into the main buildings however the giant metal climbing frame next to them is well worth the trip on its own.
A lot of the ladders had been inconveniently snipped off at the bottom and it took a fair bit of wandering around before we started going up. Up and up we went trying all options into the main buildings but with no luck.
Eventually we ended up on the roof catching some pretty spectacular views of the chimney (the UK's 5th highest!), towers and lots of good twisty pipey metalwork before heading off.
The chimney from the very bottom up
