Lostock Power Station - Feb 19

[UrbandonedTeam]

To be honest, we thought this one was long gone like the similar sites in it's close vicinity. Therefore, when it cropped up suddenly, we made sure to get it done because there is a quickly disappearing amount of abandoned power stations in England.



Lostock Power Station



Bowman, Thompson & Co. originally owned the site, but it was sold to Brunner Mond in 1990. With a seven year closure the site was reconstructed, afterwards producing sixty tonnes of soda ash a day. This figure later rose to 800 tonnes a day in 1926, with all of the Brunner Mond assets then being turned over to ICI. The coal fired power station was decommissioned in 2000 when E.ON built their new Combined Heat & Power plant at Winnington. There are plans for the station to be demolished and a new Sustainable Energy Plant to be built on the site.



To start, here are some old pictures of the turbines and then a newer photo estimating the design of the sustainable energy centre that is planned to be built in the power station's place

Although when we visited, there had been recent security problems with other explorers that had been, we managed to gain entry cleanly without any issues, and spent a solid few hours exploring the maze of rusty machinery and scaffolding inside.



Externals

Inside the building that isn't the turbine hall. This one would've housed the beginning of the coal process - the coal would be sent to the top of the structure via a conveyor belt, to be burned in the boilers into highly condensed steam, which would then flow to the turbines.

Into the opposing building, where the turbine hall is situated. Asbestos removal is currently ongoing in here and then it will be demolished. The turbines would spin the steam in their internal generators to make electricity.

The turbine hall

Finally, a quick trip onto the roof to finish as the sun went down.

Here you can find the link for our documentary styled video on this site. We cover the impressive structure's past, present and future through cinematics and narration:



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Thanks for reading

 

[Sam Haltin]

Interesting post and it looks like a future for the site.

 

[KPUrban_]

Nice one, it's too late for me to go unfortunately. Glad you got it done.

 

[Dirus_Strictus]

Spent many days in this place when I worked at ICI in my early years. Just a couple of points - Condensed steam only appears at the end of the generation process, when it is cooled and returned to the boiler feed circuit. This is one of the many private generating plants that cropped up all over the UK to meet the demand for electric power. In the beginning the generating plants were owned by the Town Councils, but these were of limited capacity and larger manufacturing organisations provided their own. With the onset of the fledgling CECB, most firms bought their power from this organisation, but large organisations like ICI provided their own power at their larger sites - economics and control over demand being the deciding factors. ICI Huddersfield generated its own when I was there in '63 and the old Doncaster Plant Works (BRB) had its own for many years

I do hope that you did not just put a mask on and walk about this heavily contaminated plant and then got into your car and popped of home to family!? All the none employee related deaths due to asbestos in the Armley area of Leeds, were due to wives shaking out their husbands overalls prior to washing them. My first Boss when I joined BR, became the Eastern Region Asbestos supremo, but even he died a very painful, asbestos related, death! As a school leaver he became a 'mail boy' at the Plant Works and these lads favourite lunch time pastime was chucking blue asbestos 'snowballs' at each other in the asbestos house yard. No H & S in those days and I often wondered what his thoughts were, when in later life, he fully understood the possible implications of his early contact with this killer.

A few photographs are not worth the risk of an early, painful death. Plant that has been undisturbed for years is OK - if one is properly protected. However a plant being tripped of asbestos prior to demolition is another kettle of fish. Even fully protected, I would not venture inside without seeing all the relevant paperwork and certainly not for a hobby activity.