When coal was king
Well, almost...
Poole Power Station, as seen from the town bridge in January 1980. Digitised from a Kodachrome-64 colour transparency.
As more than 40 countries represented at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow have pledged to end the use of coal for power generation, a reminder of when coal once formed a key component of the UK's electricity generation strategy.
Poole Power Station was built between 1946 and 1950 from locally produced bricks and began generating in 1950. It was originally intended to burn coal and could consume more than 1,000 tons per day. However, it was converted to burn oil in 1955 and remained in use until 1984. The twin 325-foot high towers were brought down in 1993, and the rest of the structure was demolished the following year. For the next 25 years it remained as the largest brownfield site in SW England, but has since been allocated for housing.
The Central Electricity Generating Board used to hold public open days at the power station, and I still recall being shown around the boiler and turbine halls, it must have been in about 1972 or 1973. We even got to peer inside one of the boilers - through a very thick viewing port!
When coal was king
Well, almost...
Poole Power Station, as seen from the town bridge in January 1980. Digitised from a Kodachrome-64 colour transparency.
As more than 40 countries represented at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow have pledged to end the use of coal for power generation, a reminder of when coal once formed a key component of the UK's electricity generation strategy.
Poole Power Station was built between 1946 and 1950 from locally produced bricks and began generating in 1950. It was originally intended to burn coal and could consume more than 1,000 tons per day. However, it was converted to burn oil in 1955 and remained in use until 1984. The twin 325-foot high towers were brought down in 1993, and the rest of the structure was demolished the following year. For the next 25 years it remained as the largest brownfield site in SW England, but has since been allocated for housing.
The Central Electricity Generating Board used to hold public open days at the power station, and I still recall being shown around the boiler and turbine halls, it must have been in about 1972 or 1973. We even got to peer inside one of the boilers - through a very thick viewing port!