Battersea Power Station, London
Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Battersea, an inner-city district of South West London. It comprises two individual power stations, built in two stages in the form of a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built in the 1930s, with Battersea B Power Station to its east in the 1950s. The two stations were built to an identical design, providing the well known four-chimney layout. The station ceased generating electricity in 1983, but over the past 50 years it has become one of the best known landmarks in London and is Grade II* listed.
I thought about not including the 'visited with' paragraph, but then again, it wouldn't have been the experience it was without them. So... Deep breath...
Visited with/met up with inside the following awesome people: Keitei, 2wid, Rasinwing, JasperB, sirjonnyp, WhoDaresWins, tumbles, END-PROC, hosuecat, elliot5200, Voibmi, Gabe, TheFamousThreeGoTo, Skeleton Key, starlight and a couple more, who I can only apologise to that I couldn't recall your usernames.
Visited with/met up with inside the following awesome people: Keitei, 2wid, Rasinwing, JasperB, sirjonnyp, WhoDaresWins, tumbles, END-PROC, hosuecat, elliot5200, Voibmi, Gabe, TheFamousThreeGoTo, Skeleton Key, starlight and a couple more, who I can only apologise to that I couldn't recall your usernames.
Now, Battersea. It's partly the fault of this massive structure that I got into the whole exploring malarky in the first place. There it stands, firmly in central London, and is one of the most iconic sites within the city, and indeed the UK. I'm not sure why I had never attempted it before now, having even had offers to be shown in etc. I'll never understand why, but all I knew, is that I wasn't going to let it slip by without being ticked off the 'list'.
I know this place has been bumped to the top of the tourist bus destinations list in the past month or so, but that still didn't mean it wasn't as desirable as it was before, and well worth the trips in. Even if every other photographer/explorer/urbexor/Joe Bloggs within a 100 mile radius had been in, it wouldn't make a difference to me. I wanted this, and am extremely happy with the outcome.
These photos were taken over many visits, but no doubt they will not be the last.
I owe a huge thanks to many people for making this such an enjoyable place to explore, but in particular Keitei, who made a nice, quick and easy entrance into 'B' side, forming the first part of my experience of Battersea. Then to Rasinwing and JasperB, who did the same for 'A' side, the following excursion.
After getting us all up to 'A' side roof, using the most awkward, filthy and sketchy route, we were rather dismayed at first, when four more arrived, using the most simple easy route up. But, I guess that's what makes it so much fun. Nothing like the feeling of satisfaction of achieving something you'd heard people had been getting stumped on. That is, of course, until you realise you could have saved a lot of time and effort...
I am in no way saying that my selection of photos do it justice, but it shows the power station, as I see it. I mean, we all interpret places in different ways right?
I know this place has been bumped to the top of the tourist bus destinations list in the past month or so, but that still didn't mean it wasn't as desirable as it was before, and well worth the trips in. Even if every other photographer/explorer/urbexor/Joe Bloggs within a 100 mile radius had been in, it wouldn't make a difference to me. I wanted this, and am extremely happy with the outcome.
These photos were taken over many visits, but no doubt they will not be the last.
I owe a huge thanks to many people for making this such an enjoyable place to explore, but in particular Keitei, who made a nice, quick and easy entrance into 'B' side, forming the first part of my experience of Battersea. Then to Rasinwing and JasperB, who did the same for 'A' side, the following excursion.
After getting us all up to 'A' side roof, using the most awkward, filthy and sketchy route, we were rather dismayed at first, when four more arrived, using the most simple easy route up. But, I guess that's what makes it so much fun. Nothing like the feeling of satisfaction of achieving something you'd heard people had been getting stumped on. That is, of course, until you realise you could have saved a lot of time and effort...
I am in no way saying that my selection of photos do it justice, but it shows the power station, as I see it. I mean, we all interpret places in different ways right?
August 2013 - May 2014
'The Battersea Days'
Control Room 'A'
This is still, to this day, the place inside BPS that I've been to most. It's such a vast and majestic room, with so much history to accompany. The fact that the builders had left lights for us was a dream - lighting this place up by torchlight would not have been fun or indeed easy. It's kind of hard to describe exactly what this room is like if you haven't actually been inside it, but I really hope that they preserve it well, and that more people than the few that snuck in/bribed security get to see it!
Control/Switch Room 'B'
This was the first part of the power station that I ever saw. Although seeing many many photos from people who had already been, it was a totally different ball game to finally see the things in here for myself. Safe to say, it was totally worth the painful and noisy way in.
Turbine Hall
The Roof/Base of chimneys
For me, the roof is always on the agenda whenever I visit anywhere - fact. The top of Battersea Power Station is just fantastic. There are quite a few ways up and down, and I think we pretty much covered them all. For a start, the views of London are tip top, despite not being the tallest structure in the city (unless you're standing at the top of the chimneys - watch this space).
One really special moment for me would have to be when we managed to get 16 people in, though and to the top of the building. That moment when we were all on the roof having a laugh is one I will not forget. These people are from all over the country, yet through this one place and sharing the same interests, this just worked!
Once on the roof, there's the option to ascend the scaffolding surrounding the bases of the chimneys and be able to touch the bottom of those famous cream beasts. The first time up there I remember being on a real high, and certainly no sleep was had that night.
One really special moment for me would have to be when we managed to get 16 people in, though and to the top of the building. That moment when we were all on the roof having a laugh is one I will not forget. These people are from all over the country, yet through this one place and sharing the same interests, this just worked!
Once on the roof, there's the option to ascend the scaffolding surrounding the bases of the chimneys and be able to touch the bottom of those famous cream beasts. The first time up there I remember being on a real high, and certainly no sleep was had that night.