Westfield science labs..Scotland

[Mikeymutt]

When I visited the Apollo power station or as its real name is the westfield development centre,the one bit we could not get in was the stations labs.it was well sealed up.my friend who took us had been in before they got sealed.so when in Scotland me and the girlfriend met up with him as he told us they were open again.sadly when he first went in they were spotless,but with the site nearly demolished the metal fairies had got in and pulled loads of it apart.luckily the stuff in it had been untouched like the bottles and screens and so on.Its a shame they had been trashed a bit,but if they had not gone in then we would not have got in.its a vicious circle this game.the labs had all sorts of strange stuff and bottles in it and had a really retro feel to it.safe to say I hardly touched a thing in here.i have never been in anything like it.but I loved it,we spent ages in here.not exactly sure what was done in here.but the power station used basically crap slurry like coal to produce gas.so I can only assume they tested the coal here and maybe the gas it produced.the rest of the site is virtually gone now,but the labs still stand.not sure if they have to geta specialist team in to clean up the place as there is some nasty looking stuff in here.to see the rest of the place how it was here is my earlier report.

https://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/industrial-sites/35788-apollo-scotland.html



































The main cupboard.this was the main storage area for most of the bottles of stuff.



















































































And a quick update on the rest of the site,the gasifier just a mangled heap of metal.a turbine just lays on the ground,which was cool.were you had to go in to the fan for the turbine the back has now been ripped off.so getting in was easy instead of the tight squeeze through a hole.which is why people missed the fan.

 

[BikinGlynn]

Theres a lot of stuff there to look at. Excellent pics.

 

[Rolfey]

nice pics!

 

[HughieD]

That's a bit wow from me Mikey. Another epic explore.

 

[Mikeymutt]

Thank you all for the lovely comments

 

[smiler]

Bloody fascinating Mikey, interesting bits left behind and it will need someone who knows what they're at to clear it, left as it is, some scavengers could get seriously hurt, Proper job, enjoyed it, Thanks

 

[Dirus_Strictus]

A typical CEGB power station laboratory; much the same as the labs attached to the Trent Stations, where I spent many working hours during my time with BR Scientific Services. The Station Labs were specifically dealing with fuel gas analysis and boiler water treatment chemicals. These stations burnt coal to produce steam for the turbines that powered the generators and the coal used was a high calorific grade product - nothing like the 'slack' produced by the old, pre-war coal extraction. When the NCB really mechanised coal extraction in the late 50's and early 60's, they found that the machinery produced much more course, powdery coal than large lumps and it was realised by the CEGB that if BR could build a suitable wagon to carry this product, a very automated delivery system from pit to power station could be introduced. NCB installed milling equipment to produce coal of the right sieve size and the automatic wagon loading plant. BR built the HAA hopper wagons; that were designed by a group of NCB, BRB and CEGB designers. CEGB built the unloading hoppers at each station and hence the 'Merry-Go-Round' system was born. It was envisaged that these coal trains would be continually on the move, only stopping for driver changes, fuelling, maintenance and signals. I entered the scene because nothing designed by a Committee ever works in the way originally envisaged. The system worked very well until the first severe winter - when the shit hit the fan! Just when the power stations needed extra coal, it was found the the wagons would not discharge because the doors were frozen shut. Only by bringing in stocks by road was a very serious situation eased, but the HAA never did work well in winter. We tried adding antifreeze to the wash water at the pits, none stick coatings on the wagon interiors and many other things. Even with the help of a huge freezer unit; that CEGB built at High Marnham Power Station, so that we could experiment in the summer months - no real solution was found. All the experimentation had to be done during the summer months, the situation could be too critical during the winter months and the vagaries of the British winter meant that freezing weather could not be guaranteed.

Nothing really nasty in water treatment labs; any company used to dealing with laboratory chemicals will be able to clear it out.

 

[Sam Haltin]

That's a superb collection of photos. The labs look like a museum of ancient equipment, some of the equipment must date back to the fifties and sixties. Your five last shots look like a movie set from The Terminator.

 

[wolfism]

Boy, the labs have really been destroyed in the past few months - they were more or less untouched at the end of last year. Well done for persevering though, interesting to see the update.

Did you run into Scotland's friendliest copper thief while you were there?

 

[Pincheck]

Wow first few pictures thought the labs had been stripped

 

[prettyvacant71]

It maybe trashed but your pic's are just fantastic! Love all the close-ups of the tiny bottles and dials. Your before and after externals are seriously dramatic! Wish I had made it up there to see the place before it was totalled! Thanks mikey loved lookin at this!

 

[Mikeymutt]

Thank you all.the place is still there at the min..thanks ds for the detailed infill.funnily enough there was a massive coal mine virtually next door.so I reckon they got the goal from there.and there is a track at the back so reckon the coal was maybe transported just down there.this plant was a world leader at the time and the technology here was ground breaking in gasification.i will take your word in the poison.but will air on the side of caution still.when you have cabinets with poison on them..I have met the friendly copper thief on both visits.he showed us a video on the second visit of his climb up the chimney.there was some more dodgy ones in there who worked through the night with heavy plant

 

[Dirus_Strictus]

It's a great shame that the gasification side of things did not take off. Natural Gas put the final nail in the coffin; but if the technology had been developed a few years earlier - who knows?

 

[wolfism]

I have met the friendly copper thief on both visits.he showed us a video on the second visit of his climb up the chimney.there was some more dodgy ones in there who worked through the night with heavy plant

He's a good guy, always happy to chat with explorers. In November/ December the others were driving right onto the site with their cars and loading them up with copper, some are a bit territorial and suspicious of folks with cameras, but provided you can speak the language (broad Fifespeak!) and explain what you're there for, they leave you alone to take photos.

 

[Mikeymutt]

Yeah my mate informed me of all the goings on there.but he was ok with us.being English I never said too much.too be honest I struggled to understand him ha ha..Let's say he has a nice photo collection at home now.you remember the gallery.the guy who put it up is happy