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Willington Cooling Towers, Derbyshire - June '15 | Oblivion State Urban Exploration

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Willington Cooling Towers, Derbyshire - June '15

Punk

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Visited with 2 non-members

History

CoalTrain.jpg


In the 1950s, two coal-fired power stations were built on a site off Twyford Road, between Willington and Findern. The stations were privatised and sold to National Power in the early 1990s and eventually closed in the mid-1990s. Although most of the stations were demolished at the turn of the millennium, the five cooling towers continue to dominate the skyline of the local area. The site[6] is earmarked for a large residential development, pending the results of a public inquiry. The construction plans have been met with local opposition, perhaps due to the site's proximity to the River Trent's flood plain.

In the mid-1990s a pair of peregrine falcons nested in one of the site's huge cooling towers. Unlike many bird of prey breeding sites, this was widely publicised because of its impregnable location.

Explore

I originally came here in February 2013 with The Wombat, but never got round to posting a thread. So on our way to meet Stig and AK in Kimberley, we decided to have a few sneaky explores. After nearly ending up Melton Mowbray due to our driver's inability to follow instructions and 2 fails, we finally arrived in Willington. It was a nice easy stroll, but the shear size of these things still have me in awe.

(1)

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(2)

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(3)

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(4)

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(5)

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(6)

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(7)

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(8)

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(9)

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(10)

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(11)

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(12)

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(13)

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(14)

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Cheers for Looking

 
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Maniac

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Think these are pretty much the only cooling towers you can get up close to like this in the UK now. Definitely worth popping into if you're passing.

Nice photos of them there. It always amazes me how their huge mass can be held up by those spindly bits of concrete at the bottom, madness!

 

mookster

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Think these are pretty much the only cooling towers you can get up close to like this in the UK now. Definitely worth popping into if you're passing.
As far as I know they are the only set of accessible derelict cooling towers left in the country after Richborough was demolished, and to have five in one spot is even better. I love this place, the scale of them is absolutely breathtaking.

 

jones-y-gog

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Awesome, like the figure giving the scale in #4. Love this place and those greenish pillars in #8 are great for photos!

 

The_Raw

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Nice report Punk (y)

:comp

 

Urban_Explorer

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It's nice to see the first two photo's from when it was in use! first for me to see that....

 

hamtagger

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Nice set there mate (y)

I was amazed at the sheer size of the feckers too. Lots of time was spent getting expletives to echo around the inside :D

 
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