# Battersea Power Station, 2009-2010



## cogito (Aug 14, 2012)

It recently dawned on me that I've only reported on approximately 3.6% of the sites that I've visited. That's pretty small whichever way you look at it. With that in mind I thought I'd look back through the archives and see if there was anything worth putting up rather than gathering digital dust on my hard drive.

There was.

Many of the aging reports on Battersea Power Station now contain broken links to missing images, or coverage of just a small part of this deceptively vast site; I figured it was about time to put together something relatively thorough of a place I enjoyed many a time in the earlier days.

Battersea Power Station actually comprises of two individual power stations, built in two stages in the form of a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built in the 1930s, with Battersea B Power Station to its east in the 1950s. The two stations were built to an identical design, providing the well known four-chimney layout. The station ceased generating electricity in 1983, but over the past 50 years it has become one of the best known landmarks in London and is Grade II* listed.

The eras in which the two stations were built are reflected magnificently in the "main attractions" of this neglected goliath, the main control room in Plant A is a gleeming original example of art-deco industry at it's finest, while the auxillary switch room in Plant B echos an era all rosy-eyed with the promise of a space age future. To see both of these in the condition they're in while other sites around the country are left to ruin is a treat indeed.







On my first visit to the site we declined any form of advice or help instead opting to figure out the maze for ourselves, all the while trying to observe security patterns. Needless to say we didn't see a great deal that night apart from the haunting ambience of the empty shell.

At the time a large marquee had recently been installed in the boiler house, taking away from the atmosphere somewhat. It's still there now.





The Turbine Hall of Plant B proved to be exceptionally dark and I was still getting to grips with a new camera.





The only photos I had of Turbine Hall A were on a roll of film that got leaked all over. Damn.

But we also found the White Room, a gimmicky show room from a previous prospective development plan.





That first trip didn't yield a great deal, leaving me both frustrated and eager for more. Just a few short weeks later though and I was back once again to brave the sharp end of a clear winter night. The lack of cloud was a cruel mistress, teasing us with brilliant moonlight but plummeting the temperature well below zero. Still, better than having to call it off from snow which would have given our tracks away.

This time, it was Plant B that would be receiving the brunt of the attention. But not before a fleeting glimpse of the main place of worship itself.





We made our way up to the roof at first, the whole of which had been specially turned into an ice rink for our amusement.










She's a good size.





Looking towards the north end of the boiler house you can still clearly see the marks of all the floors and footwells. I'd have loved to have seen this before it was gutted. Unfortunately I wouldn't have even been an itch in my fathers trousers at that point, but y'know.





With the bitter cold getting to us we pressed up on back inside, not that it'd be much warmer. This was it, the futuristic stainless steel of Auxillary Swith Room B.





Well hello.











Ok then 





I'd finally seen it, I was a happy man.





With the cold really taking it out of us by this point and dawn drawing ever closer, we called it a night. I say that, but two of us quickly found ourselves on a night bus shortly followed by being 42 floors up in the City, but that's another story.

I'd started to see the sights and get more and more of a taste for what this icon could offer, but still I hadn't seen the one room that I'd longed to see above all else this industrial cathedral offered. Control Room A. With it's decadent design that bridges industry with artistry I just had to see this rare gem.

Nearly a year passed, I'd made many other plans and been many other places all the while Control Room A had slipped beyond the back of my mind. Then by pure chance I once again found myself tearing through the streets at night to the most familiar of brick faces. It was the same as ever... But different. Arriving at about 3am we expected it to be as quiet as previous visits, not so this time. The turbine halls were filled with noise and lorries, workers number in the hundreds, cars all over no-mans-land as if BPS had become a car factory overnight. This could be fun.

We Tom and Jerry'd our way from post to post, shadow to shadow, cover to cover. It felt like it took forever, but we made it safely to cover. By this point it'd become apparent we were going to be in for a rare treat, fortune favours the bold and daylight favours the photographer...






Good morning Battersea!




















After way too long, the Control Room revealed itself to me and by daylight to boot!

We didn't wanna hang around too long, we'd acertained that a commercial was being filmed on site and knowing the nature of such occurences, figured we could be rudely interrupted at any minute. We made our way up to the roof carefully ducking from the gaze of no-mans-land, where about 100 brand new cars were parked and 100 crew members were scurrying. This seemed all too surreal and brazen.

You can't really see it in this low res version, but there several hi-vis types in the marquee doing whatever hi-vis types do.





That was it. For all the mind games, teasing, the dates, the cold nights; she even let me stay for breakfast. What. A. Beaut.





Thanks to everyone I visited here with, wouldn't have been the same without you.


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## UEP-Wales (Aug 14, 2012)

Outstanding... well and truly outstanding! Cheers for sharing


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## Bones out (Aug 14, 2012)

Proper job!

Nice one fella!


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## Ace247 (Aug 14, 2012)

Amazing pics...


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## UrbanX (Aug 15, 2012)

Nicely done. Always love your photos! 
More of you hard drive needs to be online, can't imagine what other gems are in there!
Thanks for sharing,


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## oldscrote (Aug 15, 2012)

Stunning stuff,thanks


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## UE-OMJ (Aug 15, 2012)

Incredible!!! Simply incredible!!! Thanks


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## whodareswins (Aug 15, 2012)

This makes me want to explore this site even more now!


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## phill.d (Aug 15, 2012)

Brilliant report and superbly told, I salute you sir


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## freespirits (Aug 15, 2012)

a very very nicely done report dude and stunning pics ,,,top drawer that place and wow switches lots of switches


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## TeeJF (Aug 15, 2012)

That's bl**dy impressive!


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## flyboys90 (Aug 15, 2012)

Those swich room & control areas are astounding,superb photos.


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## _Nyx_ (Aug 15, 2012)

Awesome write up & photos !


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## MD (Aug 15, 2012)

excellent report great photos too 
i was spotted by a security man when i went ages ago he was sound tho 
had a good chat it was only when i got back to leics i realised i needed the other side


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## King Al (Aug 15, 2012)

Fantastic report cogito! really enjoyed seeing this


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## pumice (Aug 15, 2012)

Great report. My god i want to go there one day! Thanks a lot..........


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## Chairman Meow (Aug 15, 2012)

Nice shots. Was the "fleeting glimpse" line an intentional Floyd ref?


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## maxmix (Aug 15, 2012)

Great report, many thanks


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## cogito (Aug 16, 2012)

Chairman Meow said:


> Nice shots. Was the "fleeting glimpse" line an intentional Floyd ref?



I was wondering if someone would notice that


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## sYnc_below (Aug 16, 2012)

Props for all that, top drawer stuff


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## steve2109 (Aug 17, 2012)

Outstanding Pics and reports, thanks


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## Alansworld (Aug 17, 2012)

Wonderful art deco, what a treasure house.

I loved the Standby Exciter. Sounds like an extra in a porn film.


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## cogito (Oct 10, 2022)

Ahead of BPS opening to the public this Friday, I thought I'd dig back through the archive and pop up a few photos that I'd previously not shared.

Starting with Control Room A










































Control Room A of course overlooks Turbine Hall A, you can see the bay windows in the top left of this photo:






And seeing the Boiler House empty during daylight was a bit of a treat too. Brazen? Perhaps, but I'd been here enough times.


















But the best view of the Boiler House was from up here:






I'm looking forward to having a nose around when it's open. I fancy that large parts of it are going to be unrecognisable, but at least I'll have a bit of an idea of which doors to try snooping behind.


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## Hayman (Oct 11, 2022)

Wonderful shot of the control desk. The 'Houston' of its day. "Beam me up, Scotty".


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## Big Duke 6 (Oct 11, 2022)

Those shots at the start of the thread are stunning. Shows just how fantasic old engineering could look!


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## BikinGlynn (Oct 11, 2022)

cogito said:


> Ahead of BPS opening to the public this Friday, I thought I'd dig back through the archive and pop up a few photos that I'd previously not shared.
> 
> Starting with Control Room A
> View attachment 519691



That is stunning, shame there aint none left like that. Also gutted I wasnt really properly into exploring back then


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## HistoryBuff (Oct 12, 2022)

Awesome reports and photos, great job! What a beautiful place.


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## Hayman (Oct 12, 2022)

Big Duke 6 said:


> Those shots at the start of the thread are stunning. Shows just how fantasic old engineering could look!


So true. When turning those controls and flicking the switches, one felt and often heard what was happening inside the cabinet. A bit like turning the knobs on an old Baby Belling. There was a direct connection between one's fingers and the result. Perhaps the first time I enjoyed that was when 'driving' the Atco 18 inch wide cylinder mower to cut the large lawns at my parents' guest house. I'd have been 12 or 13. Push over the clutch handle, open the throttle and it would come to life under my control. Using one's hands and legs when riding a horse is another example of that continuum of thought, action and result. Driving a steam locomotive is another example of engineering where everything is there to be seen; regulator, brake levers, injector valves, etc - all manually operated. As with fly-by-wire aircraft, and modern cars where there is no mechanical connection from the accelerator pedal, it is a 'push button' world. The power may be there, but the sensation has gone.


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