Report - Gas Holder No 7 - Battersea, London - October 2013

Gabe · Dec 27, 2013

Gas Holder No 7

This rigid gas holder (no. 7) on the 2 hectare Battersea Gasworks site in London can store up to 186,000 cubic metres of gas beneath an oil-sealed piston. It was built to the MAN design in 1930-32. Unlike water-sealed gasholders, the tank does not expand and contract with the amount of gas contained. Thus, the 90 m (295 ft) cylinder is a prominent feature next to the rail line into Victoria station, rivalling the chimneys of the nearby (disused) Battersea Power Station.

This place was a bitch. It took two attempts, the first night we paid the old girl a visit we didn't get as far as we wanted but with time ticking on we headed elsewhere only to return here the following night. This time with a big chunk of the groundwork done we gave it another shot. It wasn't exactly the easiest place to access and it took quite a while to figure everything out. Eventually at about 11:55 PM we were standing on the top looking down on the old girl BPS across the street, i managed to take 3 shots before the chimney lights were killed which was lucky.

The saddest part is that after brick walls, palisade, PIR's, CCTV, possible live in security, barbed wire, razor wire, climbing a cage, the rickity as fuck stairs to the roof and finally a roof that could and wanted to collapse under my weight, i didn't feel like descending into the gasometer too deep to have to climb back out to get back down as once again we had other sites to visit the same night and needed to save at least a little energy for them. The relief was so great when we reached the top that i seemed to forget how to use my camera so must apologize for the shitty pictures.

Myself, Seffy and WhoDaresWins. Seffy was a magician this night.

There were high 5's when we got back to the car.

May of stolen this first image from somewhere