History
“The Ironbridge power stations (also known as the Buildwas power stations) refers to a series of two power stations that occupied a site on the banks of the River Severn at Buildwas in Shropshire, England. The Ironbridge B Power Station was operated by E.ON UK but the site is now owned by Haworth Group. The station stands near the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site. Originally powered by coal, they were converted to use 100% biomass fuel. Ironbridge B Power Station stopped generating electricity on 20 November 2015, with the decommissioning process continuing into 2017. The main phase of the 27-month demolition process began at 11:00 GMT on 6 December 2019, commencing with the four cooling towers. This was to make space for over 1,000 homes, shops and other buildings.
Project architect Alan Clark worked closely with landscape architect Kenneth Booth, to ensure that the station merged as far as possible into its natural surroundings. In this respect, the power station was unique amongst British coal-fired stations. When viewed from Ironbridge, the surroundings of the station are hidden by wooded hills. The cooling towers were deliberately constructed using concrete to which a red pigment had been added, to blend with the colour of the local soil. This had cost £11,000 in the 1960s. The towers could not be seen at all from the world-famous landmark, The Iron Bridge. The station’s single 205 m (673 ft) high chimney was fifth tallest chimney in the UK. It was the tallest structure in Shropshire, as well as being taller than Blackpool Tower and London’s BT Tower.
The station’s turbine hall is decoratively clad in chipped granite faced concrete panels, aluminium sheeting, and glazing. The turbine hall obscures the rather more functional metal clad boiler house from view. A free-standing administration block continues the theme of concrete panelling, albeit with extensive use of large floor to ceiling windows. Period fittings within the administration block include a board room, containing murals that reference the industries of the Ironbridge Gorge, and a grand entrance hall with a metallic mural.”
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironbridge_power_stations
The cooling towers were deliberately constructed using concrete to which a red pigment had been added, to blend with the colour of the local soil and surroundings. Sadly, December 2019 the cooling towers were demolished before I got to experience the site. I would have really liked to have experienced these in person, a major regret of mine! This is one reason why I aim to make the most each of every day and document my adventures along the way due to our ever-changing, temporary existance, don’t forget to to enjoy and appreiciate the moment as it won’t always be..
The below photo isn’t mine and is sourced from the people at Harworth Group, this is just so you can see what they was like for yourself.
