# Willington Cooling Towers - Possible Demolition - March 09



## james.s (Mar 25, 2009)

*I visited Willington Cooling Towers today with LIO112 and Michael. I know they have been done a million times on here, but they are now showing signs of being demolished, so I will post my pictures before they are gone.
*
*Classic Shot of Towers*






*Inlet Valve*





*Inlet Valve Against Tower*





*Walking along the inlet pipe*





*One of the few remaining control panels, open to the elements*





*Looking Up*





*Inside Water Inlet Tunnel*





*Apparently this is part of a fish farm*





*The worrying pictures, two of the towers closest to Willington road have had their interior architecture removed, it is just rubble in the bottom, they also have demolition warning signs, there have been plans for building houses here for some time, I wonder if they are starting the demolition for it?*
*
Danger, Demolition?*




*
Keep Out*




*
Inside the Part-Demolished Tower*





*Soon to be gone?*




*
Thanks for looking*


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## Foxylady (Mar 25, 2009)

Excellent pics, James. I never tire of seeing cooling towers and it's good to see the other bits of machinery too. Sad to think of them going soon. 
Thanks for posting.


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## Reaperman (Mar 25, 2009)

james.s said:


> *Turbine Hall?*



That's definitely not a turbine hall!

Shame they haven't got birds of prey up there like Thorpe marsh. That usually upsets the demo teams.


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## james.s (Mar 25, 2009)

Yeah, I thought it looked rather small, does anyone know what it could be?


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## Reaperman (Mar 25, 2009)

james.s said:


> Yeah, I thought it looked rather small, does anyone know what it could be?



Well you'd say it was part of the water management system, possibly a reservoir for filtered water to feed the boilers, Something along those lines its not something I remember well and its been 2 years since I last went to Willington.


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## james.s (Mar 25, 2009)

Ah, Thanks, on second thoughts, it looks like it was supposed to be filled with water. The deep water signs must be orginal then. There is some tiling further up from a large hall, possibly turbine.


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## Keep out! (Mar 26, 2009)

definitely going to film the demolition job! I missed the salt and pepper pots at Sheffield but won't miss this one. 

Where can we get more info about the demolition works?


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## The_Revolution (Mar 26, 2009)

I'd like to climb the side of them.

Best get it done quick


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## Trudger (Mar 26, 2009)

The_Revolution said:


> I'd like to climb the side of them.
> 
> Best get it done quick



Yeah, if you see someone walking away rolling cable from a drum, get off quick !


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## james.s (Mar 26, 2009)

> Where can we get more info about the demolition works?



I am not sure if they are definitely being flattened, but two of the towers have hade their interior structure removed, and I believe that there is planning permission to build houses on the site. I am sure that some info will come out in the next few weeks.
The_Revolution, they are exactly 300 feet high, so they would be proper fun to climb!


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## The_Revolution (Mar 26, 2009)

james.s said:


> The_Revolution, they are exactly 300 feet high, so they would be proper fun to climb!



I'm sure someone on here already has; but who I can't remember.


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## Keep out! (Mar 26, 2009)

This site is 5 minutes away from where I live.

I'm sending my girlfriend to the top of each tower naked.

Pics later.


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## james.s (Mar 26, 2009)

Really??!!! Give her some decent climbing gear at least


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## Squirrell911 (Mar 26, 2009)

Cooling towers are always cool to walk around in, they echo like a bugger.  Did you get up through the filtration papers and up into the water gullies that carry the water down?


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## james.s (Mar 26, 2009)

No, I didn't get through the filtration thing, I wish I had. Is there usually a walkway up there? I will have to go again before they remove them from the other 3 towers. Shouting random words was fun in there!


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## fezzyben (Mar 27, 2009)

Dont think its being demo'd for a while as local residents protested against the building of houses and won. It was on the front pages of the burton mail and derby evening telegraph a couple of weeks ago.

Keep out where abouts are you cos I'm only in repton


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## james.s (Mar 28, 2009)

*New pictures*

*More Pictures from my second visit with Peter and LIO112. It was better day so no noisy pictures!*
*I was told by a local, that these towers were to be sent to China, but it would have been expensive. He helped us tie the door back onto our car so we could go home, after it spung open while LIO112 was reversing  We had to drive back to Ripley with me holding the door on.*

*I like this one*





*The remainig Infrastructure on the Willington A towers*





*Cooling Elements*





*I ventured out into the water in the bottom of one of the towers, it isn't too deep, and is solid concrete underneath the water, not mud. I had waterproof shoes, and LIO112 and Peter did not, So here is a picture of them from in the water, really shows how big these towers are when you contrast this to how big the base supports look on the last picture*





*The Very Live Transformers at the End of the Site*





*Ah, The Polarising Filter, Where Would Humanity Be Without It?*


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## Keep out! (Mar 28, 2009)

fezzyben said:


> Dont think its being demo'd for a while as local residents protested against the building of houses and won. It was on the front pages of the burton mail and derby evening telegraph a couple of weeks ago.
> 
> Keep out where abouts are you cos I'm only in repton




I'm at Chellaston, just along the 50 from Repton.


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## thompski (Mar 28, 2009)

Keep out! said:


> I'm at Chellaston, just along the 50 from Repton.



Unlucky


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## Peter (Mar 29, 2009)

These are the shots I got


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## ashless (Mar 29, 2009)

Good old Willington, it was my first!


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## james.s (Mar 29, 2009)

Hopefully going again soon 
It is a really great site (thanks fot putting the pictures on peter) I hope that the High-Vis men do not demolish it soon, as seems apparent in the B towers.


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## thompski (Mar 29, 2009)

If I recall that demolition took place late last year, either way I'm sure any plans to demolish the towers will be in the Derby Telegraph and Burton Mail. I think the local NIMBY's stopped the development, that and South Derbyshire council being useless idiots so wouldn't expect anything to happen any time soon.


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## james.s (Mar 29, 2009)

I agree totally with you on the issue of South East Derbyshire Council being idiots, the whole of derbyshire's councils are. What demolition took place last year? Was it the insides of the B towers?


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## thompski (Mar 29, 2009)

Pretty much just that, and new fencing around the site.


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## james.s (Mar 29, 2009)

Ah, someone else said they saw some diggers in there. Shame about the B towers, they had the interior walkways still intact too.


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## james.s (Apr 2, 2009)

*I forgot to post this, but this was the sky over the back of the site when I visited first. HDR'd for full effect.*


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## 4737carlin (Apr 2, 2009)

Any more news on whats going on with these? if they do come down i hope they do it in daylight unlike Sheffield


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## The_Revolution (Apr 3, 2009)

4737carlin said:


> Any more news on whats going on with these? if they do come down i hope they do it in daylight unlike Sheffield



I think the proximity to roads will mean they come down at night. There was another one in the area that was demolished late at night so as not to freak out drivers who were passing. I felt the blast and I'm miles away.


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## thompski (Apr 4, 2009)

It appears they are planning upon building a gas-fired power station on the site, the locals won't be happy - cant build housing? Pollute them instead 

From thisisderbyshire.co.uk



> A UNION leader has welcomed news that thousands of construction jobs could be created in Derbyshire if plans for a power station go ahead.
> 
> Energy company RWE Npower is considering building a gas-fired plant on the derelict site of a former power station in Willington.
> 
> ...


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## james.s (Apr 17, 2009)

If they do, I wonder if they will try and use the shell of the current towers or be daft and build some new ones?
It would make sense to retain the current ones, but they may not be particularly pleased that they contain asbestos.


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## thompski (Apr 17, 2009)

A Gas fired station is currently being built at Staythorpe in Nottinghamshire, which formerly housed two Coal Fired stations much like Willington. From what I can gather there is no Hyperboloid cooling towers at the new facility there, so I don't think they'll keep the ones at Willington should a new station be proposed for Willington.


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## james.s (Apr 21, 2009)

I've just looked at Willington on google maps, it shows the power station being demolished, quite interesting really.
Flashearth shows it still open. I actually remember attending a birthday party at the plant just before it was demolished, now I come to think of it....

>Look Here For Google Maps<

>Look Here For Flashearth<


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## james.s (Jun 9, 2009)

It was on Radio Derby earlier, that local residents are voting as to the fate of the towers, I can't imagine they would want them


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## fezzyben (Jun 9, 2009)

james.s said:


> It was on Radio Derby earlier, that local residents are voting as to the fate of the towers, I can't imagine they would want them



I'm in the next village but have mates in willington and they like them as it shows them they aren't far from home when they see the towers.


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## james.s (Jun 9, 2009)

I'd like them too if I lived near them, I think a new power station has been proposed hasn't it? But it would be a dual-cycle gas thingymabobbie, so woudln't retain the towers.


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## thompski (Jun 9, 2009)

When you've been away for three months there's no better 'welcome home' then the five towers looming on the horizon as you race down the A50 - that said I feel the land should be brought back into use - be it some sort of clever reuse of the cooling towers (modern art piece?) a new power station or an estate of 'Barratt boxes'.


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## james.s (Jun 9, 2009)

There is a lot of good land wasted there, but I think it should be used for something useful, like industry, I am sure the towers can be reused and they should. They are a landmark. I am sure someone out there can think of a viable use for them, preferable reuse as cooling towers, but I am sure they could be modified into all manner of stuff. Add a roof and you have a shell of a building to work with. No one would do that nowadays though. So it looks like more Barratt Boxes.


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## fezzyben (Jun 9, 2009)

would make an awesome climbing\abseiling centre.


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## james.s (Jun 9, 2009)

Yeah! It would! I would go. Put a roof on one, and make it a visitor centre for something, nice!


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## joeS13sx (Sep 9, 2009)

sorry to drag up an old thread but i have all so heard that they are planning to build a new powerstation in it place and from what i'm told the reason when they demolish old power station's and leave the cooling towers up is due to the change in the building regulation's that if left in place and should a new power station be granted building permission they can build to the height of what's left there i.e the the cooling towers being the heighest part of any powerstation so it gives them more to work with 
demolishing them befor planning permission goes through means they would have tighter build regulations when it comes to the height of the new plant 
i was up at staythorpe power station in july to repair a forklift that was next to one of the cooling towers they are nothing like i expected they are tiny and have a wooden frame they must be only 4 storys high and run about the legnth of about a row of 9 house's if i remember rightly they are nothing like a real cooling tower


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## fezzyben (Sep 30, 2009)

Dragging up again. Reading the local parish magazine today there was a small section saying that n power have done a presentation and are in the throws of getting planning consent for a gas powered station on the site


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