| Blackburn Meadows Power Station | |
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Blackburn Meadows Power Station's cooling towers standing prior to their demolition. |
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| Country | England |
| Location | South Yorkshire |
| Coordinates | |
| Commission date | 1921 |
| Decommission date | 1980 |
| Power station information | |
| Primary fuel | Coal-fired |
| grid reference SK395914 | |
Blackburn Meadows Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated on the River Don, between Sheffield and Rotherham. It is well known for its two iconic cooling towers which were demolished on 24 August 2008.
The station was built in 1921 by the Sheffield Corporation, to support the steel industry in the Lower Don Valley. The station was expanded in the 1930s. Hyperboloid cooling towers 6 and 7 were constructed between 1937 and 1938, replacing earlier square cooling towers. They were designed by LG Mouchell and Partners. The station was nationalised after the Second World War and operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board.[1] The station closed on 27 October 1980 with a generating capacity of 72 megawatts.[2]
Most of the station was demolished following the closure, but two of the cooling towers were left standing until August 2008.
Part of the site is proposed to be used for a new biomass power station by the owners E.ON UK.[3]
For safety reasons the Tinsley cooling towers could not easily be demolished, and were left standing unused for a further 27 years after the stations closure. Positioned directly alongside the major motorway bridge, Tinsley viaduct, the towers were an iconic landmark for the city, particularly due to their prominence when viewed from the M1 motorway. There was a campaign to save the towers, known locally as the salt and pepper pots, from demolition with proposals to turn them into a giant art installation.[4]
The two 250 ft (76 m) towers were demolished at 03.00 a.m. on 24 August 2008. However a significant portion of the north tower remained standing for a short while, which had to be destroyed manually.[5]
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