Thorpe Marsh Power Station was abandoned in 1994 The site is now currently being partly used as an electricity substation and the majority of the main Power Station buildings have been knocked down. All that remains is one large storage building with nothing inside and the 6 Huge Cooling Towers in all their glory. I’ve visited this site a good handful of times now and each an every time I see the towers in the distance upon my approach i get goose bumps. There is something really appealing about the sheer size of these things and being able to relatively freely walk around them.
A Little Background / History to the place from Wikipedia :
The station was commissioned in 1959 and was built as a prototype for all the large modern power stations in the UK. It opened in 1963. It contained 2 generating sets powered by coal, and had a gas turbine set using an industrial static version of a Rolls-Royce Avon aero engine with a capacity of 14.9 MW. On 7 January 1973 four workmen died. The CEGB was put under investigation for breaches in safety provisions but they were found to have all died accidental deaths.
The station has been closed since 1994 and the 45 acres (18 ha) site was acquired by Able UK in 1995. Much of the station has been demolished and now only its six cooling towers (each 340 ft (100 m) high and 260 ft (79 m) in diameter at the base), two ash slurry hoppers, railway sidings and the station’s large adjacent electricity switching station still remain. The switching station was nearly flooded during the 2007 Yorkshire flood, which would have knocked the grid out according to news reports. The structures still stand now because it is feared that any explosion would cause the banks of the nearby canal to rupture. They also contain asbestos, which would contaminate land for miles around the site. There have been several controversial proposals for the site, including a car distribution depot and more recently a huge landfill site, neither of which have proven popular with the local residents.
Some of the photographs I have taken of the site:
You can view the full photo set here.
The Power Station can be found here:
Click the map to view a link to google maps
Hi, can you tell me which is the best way to access the old power station site from? Is it easily accessible or do you have to climb through fences etc to get onto it? I just don’t want to be getting into trouble if I start trespassing!
Cheers, Nick
Hi Nick,
I would imagine its still technically trespass however you get in but to be honest the security there has been non existent for a long time since they demolished all the main buildings and removed anything that anyone might want to steal. Theres a way in down a side road near a substation, the fence has come down its where most of the bird watchers go. Shouldnt be any climbing involved just avoid going via the main gates as its all fences up there.
Tucker
Great post however , I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this subject? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Bless you!
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