Album Service Industry from tarboat

Last days

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 05:49:46 +0000

tarboat has posted:

Rugeley 'B' power station was still generating for a few more weeks when I took this, but was finally switched off on June 9th, 2016. It was commissioned in 1970 and could generate around 1000 megawatts of electricity.

The passing Pendelino is the icing on the cake.

Flaybrick Tower

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 10:14:23 +0000

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The Water Tower at Flaybrick Reservoir, Claughton, Wirral was built 1860-65. The water piped into this water tower travels from Alwen reservoir near Pentre-Llyn-Cymmer in Conwy County Borough, Wales by underground aqueduct. It is listed Grade II.

Rye Waterworks

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 05:36:47 +0000

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This spot is the location of a well that supplied water to the town of Rye. In the 18th century there was a pump powered by horses but in 1869 the structure was rebuilt with a steam pump. By 1907 it had become used as a soup kitchen and following decades of various uses, it is now home to the award-winning Rye Waterworks Micropub and Microbrewery. The building is listed Grade II.

Gravel loader

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 16:59:37 +0000

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Attenborough sand and gravel pit was established in Nottinghamshire in the 1920s. Since then the pit has expanded up the Trent Valley in Nottinghamshire, and into Derbyshire. The extraction at the time (2009), operated by CEMEX UK Materials (Aggregates) Ltd, was undertaken almost 5km from the processing plant and material is moved across the flooded former workings with barges pushed by Bantam tugs.

The flooded pits form an extensive nature reserve which is managed by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and Broxtowe Borough Council. Here an empty barge is arriving under the loader with the chimney and cooling towers of Ratcliffe power station in the background. This interesting water traffic seems to have ended in 2016 after exhaustion of the gravel reserves.

Unit 2

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 06:42:05 +0000

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Parsons built Generating unit No.2 at Ratcliffe power station. This had a rated output of 500 MW.

Generation Hall

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 05:23:28 +0000

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Looking across the generating hall at Ratcliffe power station back when it was still at work. This was the cleanest, tidiest, power station I have ever been in.

Dungeness Power

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sun, 31 May 2026 06:04:53 +0000

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The two closed nuclear power stations at Dungeness, Kent.

To the left Dungeness A is a legacy Magnox power station consisting of two 250 MWe reactors which were connected to the National Grid in 1965 and reached its end of life in 2006. Its decommissioning is being managed by Nuclear Restoration Services.

At the right Dungeness B is an advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) power station consisting of two 520 MWe reactors, which began operation in 1983 and 1985. They were the first in a series of AGR reactors to be constructed across the UK. In March 2009, unexpected problems discovered during a maintenance shutdown on unit B21 resulted in the reactor remaining offline for nearly 18 months. In 2015, the plant received upgrades and was given a second ten-year life extension to 2028. In September 2018, as both units were shut down for a scheduled maintenance outage, operator EDF (Électricité de France) encountered "significant and ongoing technical challenges" which ultimately led to the announcement of its closure on 7 June 2021.

The cistern chapel

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Mon, 25 May 2026 11:19:10 +0000

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In 1733 the Mayor and Jurats of Rye asked permission of Lord Wilmington to erect a water cistern or tower for public use in the corner of the churchyard. Permission was soon granted and the tower was completed during 1735 bringing a much improved water supply to the town.

Coal power

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:16:48 +0000

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Cottam power station on load on a cold January day.

Coal power

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 05:36:12 +0000

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Coal fired generation hard at work at Fiddler's Ferry, seen from Wigg Island across the Mersey.

Rusty gas

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 06:08:07 +0000

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The surviving gasholder at Great Yarmouth was built in 1884 to the design of the consulting engineer Robert P Spice of London for the Great Yarmouth Gas Company.

National Grid has a national programme agreed with OFGEM to bring redundant sites such as these back into use, but the Grade II Listed status of the Victorian gasholder and its condition requires a different approach. Following detailed technical assessments it was agreed that the tank at the bottom of the gasholder should be removed and the large visible frame should then be refurbished in-situ. Work was due to start at the end of 2025.

Water supplies

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 08:03:03 +0000

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Brutalist water tower near Tregarton Farm in the Parish of St Goran, Cornwall.

Cleethorpes

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 07:15:54 +0000

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The water tower at Cleethorpes was built sometime around 1910 and was originally taller than it currently is. The original top was replaced in the late 1950s.

Carrington Power Station

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 07:10:45 +0000

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The coal-fired Carrington Power Station was closed in 1991 and demolished soon after. Construction began in late 2009 on the same site to build a new gas-fired plant.

The station is a Combined-Cycle Power Plant (CCPP), using natural gas to generate 884MW of electricity. Each power train includes an Alstom GT26 gas turbine, a horizontal triple-pressure Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG), a TOPGAS hydrogen-cooled generator and an Alstom STF15C triple pressure reheat steam turbine with axial exhaust and all other auxiliaries to operate the plant. The total combined power output of the two power trains is 884 MW. It generates enough power to meet the electricity needs of one million homes in the UK and began commercial operation on 18 September 2016. It is majority owned by Irish company ESB Energy.

Energy from waste

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 15:52:03 +0000

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The Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant (LSEP) is an Energy from Waste facility which is currently under construction at the Lostock Works site near Northwich in Cheshire, formerly the coal fired power station for Lostock Works. It will export 69.9MW of electricity to the grid using residual waste (the waste material remaining once materials that can be recycled have been removed) as a fuel. It was was due to open in 2025 but is running behind schedule.

LSEP Ltd is a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and FCC Environment.

Two giants

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:05:48 +0000

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West Burton power station was on part load whilst beyond the Cottam power station was hard at work on this bright cold winter day in January 2019. All now closed and under demolition.

Keadby tower

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 07:22:56 +0000

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Water tower on Chapel Lane, Keadby.

Autumn electricity

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 06:41:41 +0000

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Pylons and autumn colours during my morning stroll around the parish.

Thorpe Marsh towers

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 05:44:41 +0000

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Six cooling towers mark the location of the former Thorpe Marsh power station. The 1000mw station opened in the 1960s and was closed in 1994 at a time when coal-fired generation was becoming unpopular and uneconomic. The main buildings were demolished in 1996 but the towers remained until 2012.

Max cooling

nobody@ipernity.com (tarboat) — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 06:43:51 +0000

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Fiddler's Ferry power station at full output back in 2006.Fiddler's Ferry power station at full output back in 2006.