History
Being a fairly small private power station there isn't a lot of history available online about this particular site. It was constructed in the 1950s by Imperial Chemical Industries to supply heat and electricity to their chemical works next door, still in operation by TATA Chemicals. The station was originally oil fired but later converted to coal with the boilers providing steam to a pair of 6.25mw Richardson Westgarth turbines. The building closed in 2000 after a modern gas power power station in Winnington was commissioned. Other then the demolition of the twin brick chimneys, the whole power station was left to decay after closure, an unusual occurrence in this county, where a swift demolition of a site like this is the norm. There has been lots of talk of demolition over the years but it wasn't until 2018 that asbestos removal from the dilapidated building began in preparation for the destruction of this rare survivor. Although the boiler house has been razed to the ground, the turbine hall still stands with very little change.
The Explore
I first visited the site one morning in June last year, the light was poor and I didn't get long to look around before demolition workers began to arrive at around 7am. I wanted to get back to take some better photos and have a proper look around but it would be well over a year before I managed to revisit the place. Although the boiler house has now gone entirely, it's always been the turbine hall which has been the real gem here and I was very glad to see barely any changes to it, in fact it was probably better this time round as all the stuff used by the asbestos removal teams has disappeared.
The exterior of the building in March 2019, showing the boiler house. The turbine hall is in a detached building behind, linked by a first floor walkway
I only managed to grab a few quick snaps of the boiler house last year as the site was beginning to get quite active
The ground level of the turbine hall
This area on the ground floor would have contained the feed pumps
The two Richardson Westgarth turbines
Small control room
Dials in 2019, they're not looking so good nowadays
The turbine hall from the gantry crane
Walking across the gantry crane isn't exactly a good idea. The wooden boards are all buggered so you have to carefully shuffle across on the steel beams and drive shaft, it's manageable but you wouldn't want to fall off the thing
The same view in June 2019
The site of the boiler house, with the limekilns of the operational works behind
Thanks for looking
Being a fairly small private power station there isn't a lot of history available online about this particular site. It was constructed in the 1950s by Imperial Chemical Industries to supply heat and electricity to their chemical works next door, still in operation by TATA Chemicals. The station was originally oil fired but later converted to coal with the boilers providing steam to a pair of 6.25mw Richardson Westgarth turbines. The building closed in 2000 after a modern gas power power station in Winnington was commissioned. Other then the demolition of the twin brick chimneys, the whole power station was left to decay after closure, an unusual occurrence in this county, where a swift demolition of a site like this is the norm. There has been lots of talk of demolition over the years but it wasn't until 2018 that asbestos removal from the dilapidated building began in preparation for the destruction of this rare survivor. Although the boiler house has been razed to the ground, the turbine hall still stands with very little change.
The Explore
I first visited the site one morning in June last year, the light was poor and I didn't get long to look around before demolition workers began to arrive at around 7am. I wanted to get back to take some better photos and have a proper look around but it would be well over a year before I managed to revisit the place. Although the boiler house has now gone entirely, it's always been the turbine hall which has been the real gem here and I was very glad to see barely any changes to it, in fact it was probably better this time round as all the stuff used by the asbestos removal teams has disappeared.
The exterior of the building in March 2019, showing the boiler house. The turbine hall is in a detached building behind, linked by a first floor walkway
I only managed to grab a few quick snaps of the boiler house last year as the site was beginning to get quite active
The ground level of the turbine hall
This area on the ground floor would have contained the feed pumps
The two Richardson Westgarth turbines
Small control room
Dials in 2019, they're not looking so good nowadays
The turbine hall from the gantry crane
Walking across the gantry crane isn't exactly a good idea. The wooden boards are all buggered so you have to carefully shuffle across on the steel beams and drive shaft, it's manageable but you wouldn't want to fall off the thing
The same view in June 2019
The site of the boiler house, with the limekilns of the operational works behind
Thanks for looking
