Cathedral of Power

Dominating the landscape north-east of Pontefract Castle is this coal fired power station at Ferrybridge. It is the third power station on the site, the earliest dating back to 1917. The current power station opened in 1966, and expanded to full production by 1968.

Coal was supplied to the site by rail (around 17 train loads per day when it first opened), and by barge. The chimneys are around 650ft (200m) tall, and the cooling towers around 380ft (115m) tall.

This plant is one of three along the River Aire in this area, the others being at Eggborough and Drax, which made this area one of the major sources of electrical power in the UK.

For me the three power stations are amongst the more prominent landmarks as I frequently travel by train between York and Rotherham.

This may not be so for much longer, since Ferrybridge power station was closed at the end of March this year, hence the lack of smoke and steam from the plant - but wouldn't it be a fantastic sight to see if those cooling towers were demolished using explosives as they have been at other UK locations?

Ian

[gloria jones]

Great industrial shot, shapes and history

[bkb in the city]

Great shot. Here in Alberta they are now starting to phase out coal powered plants

[Lynne Hart]

Good shot, like your title.

[Dianne]

Certainly dominates the skyline. Thanks for sharing this image.

[Paula]

Very interesting and great capture!

[Fisher Family]

@seattlite @bkbinthecity @lhart @dide @paulavdmerwe

Thank you all for your nice comments, I have enjoyed reading them.

I should add that it is not just this coal fired power station that has closed. The nearby power station at Eggborough is to be used as a backup to support renewable sources of power only when needed, and the third power station in this area, at Drax, has had half of it's production switched to burn wood pellets (which are considered to be renewable energy source), so the future of coal power generation is very bleak in this area.

Ian

[Pyrrhula]

Great shot of the plant. coal fired power stations has a bad reputation in our country too.

[Tony]

Brilliant history and great panoramic capture.

[Fisher Family]

@pyrrhula @tonydebont

Thank you for your comments - nice to hear from you!

Ian