POWER STATIONS
Battersea PS
An oldie, but a goody. This was a fantastic night. Some of the sheer drops and obstacles we had to climb around make my blood curdle when I think about them now. In particular I remember traversing a rickety old wooden ladder that was suspended horizontally, one end from a tin roof (barely), the other end held up dangling by a piece of string. Below this ladder was a 200 foot drop.
Wonderful retro control rooms. I feel privileged to have been able to see it all.
Tilbury PS (Part A)
This one was an old relic adjoining an active power station, so entrance was tricky and exposed. I was nervous about cracking this one but the 1950s decor, fittings and dusty control room kept me motivated.
On my second visit I filmed the Frankie Lopez I video. During filming time there was the constant sound of metal thieves hacking up stuff downstairs on the floor below.
The risks I take in the name of art!
If you look at the last aerial picture in section B, you can see 2 of the metal thieves leaving the site, just after us. They dropped their loot and ran when they saw my drone. I felt a little bad about this as they had obviously worked quite hard getting their swag.
Tilbury
PS (Part B)
More photos from this place, including the main prize- the control room.This place kept on giving.
Victorian Steam Punk PS
This was a delicious treat. Tiles and dials.
Built sometime around WW1, this rotting building contained a sci-fi scene of old dusty relic machinery.
The steel plant in Charleroi has had a number of power stations over the years. Possibly the earliest to be erected on the site is still there, and is a fine example of early installations at steelworks, featuring two turbine generators and a corresponding pair of rotary converters.
The turbine alternators produced AC electricity, however in the early 1900s much of the machinery at the time required DC current to operate. Steel mills in particular required large amounts of on-site DC power for their main roll drive motors, so rotary converters such as those in this power station were employed. Rotary converters were phased out around 1930 due to the emergence of mercury arc rectifiers. This means, as is also clear from the aesthetic design, the machinery can be dated to somewhere between 1904 (when their manufacturer ACEC was formed) to 1930.
Mallorca PS
A beautiful rotting hulk beckoning from all the surrounding beaches.
There are 2 new heras style fences inside the main boundary. The main problem with these was that the point of tackling them was very exposed to the street and adjacent dock.
Inside, not much has changed for years.
The 'slot window' access point was amusing, the width being about an inch narrower than my back to chest distance and the height being about 4inches shorter than my groin to shoulder height. It took some contorting, and at one point I thought I was well and truly stuck, but in the end, I managed-I was too close to give up.
6am start meant it was a bit dark for photography. By the time I got out, the families were on their balconies and I yelled Ola to them as I jumped over the 4th and final barrier to safety.
It was constructed in 1958 according to a design by the Spanish architect Ramón Vázquez Molezún.
Running gear and T/G were provided by Metropolitan Vickers.
In 1986 The Spanish government commissioned a new Powerplant around 10km away on the other side of the bay.
The plant was closed in 1991.
Power Station Cooling Tower
This beast is basically impossible to represent scale wise in photographs.
A one view/shot wonder…its a spectacle I had always wanted to see.
The Blue PS
This is what others have named this little gem. A big Belgian watt generator supplied the local steelworks.
The control room was in very good nick and fortunately the motion detectors on the door failed to attract the attention of security.
DEAD 1920'S POWER PLANT
Beautiful power station
On first entry it looks like most has been stripped. But as is usual in power stations, you soon realise there are many levels and there was still plenty to see.
Built in 1921, Power Plant IM was once one of Belgium's largest coal-burning power plants; by 1977, it had become Charleroi's main source of energy and cooled an astounding 500,000 gallons of water per minute. According to AtlasObscura.com, "water would be let into the cooling tower where it would be cooled by the wind that swept in from portals in the base of the tower, releasing billowing columns of hot air." In the early 2000s, a report discovered that the plant was responsible for 10% of Belgium's total CO2 emissions and attention from Greenpeace protests led to the site's eventual closing in 2007
New York PS
This was a huge beast half way up the Hudson river.
The scale of this place was unbelievable.
Holiday with the family. Had to go out at some point. First international explore.
What a huge rust bucket this was. This is probably the most dangerous thing I have done. Rusting walkways about 200feet+ above concrete floor. One slip and game over. There were a few planks to cross. Scarey stuff and I cringe at the thought now - what if they were rotten or a booby trap.
Spectacular place, impossible to show in photos. The chimney was quite special....i drew the line at climbing up that ladder.
"Glenwood Power Station was constructed on the side of the Hudson River between 1904 and 1906 solely to satisfy the need for electrical rail power during New York Central and Hudson River Railroad's switch from steam. To design the plant, the city hired architectural firm Reed and Stem to design its railroad's power house. Reed and Stem would later collaborate with architects Warren and Wetmore to Design Grand Central Station, the terminus of the railroad their plant powered. In 1936, when the electrical utilities could finally sufficiently supply the railroads, the city sold the plant to power consortium Con-Edison, which operated it until 1963 when newer, more efficient plants emerged."
Another Steelworks Power Plant
This was another industrial location on a abandoned industry pilgrimage. To be honest I was getting tired by this point and was getting lazy, not even getting my tripod out for this - outrageous!
If I had a chance to be there right now, I’d be eagerly setting up things properly.
This was the power plant to the biggest monster of industry I have ever been to