Report - Hayle Power Station - Cornwall - Another Lost Control Room - July 2017

[Speed]

Not sure if i can claim 100% credit on finding this one. Ive had the building itself vaguely on my radar for years now but being down in Hayle it wasn't exactly possible to just go have a quick look. What remains of the station is little more then a few small stone built substation buildings, much smaller and less conspicuous than the large substation me and Dweeb recently explored at Nechells, but what was inside turned out to be much better! On our little Bristol pissup earlier in the year we bumped into veteran explorer 'Batman' and since we had last seen him he had moved down to Cornwall for work. We got chatting about what there was to explore down there, very little it seemed until he mentioned this place. He simply said he had seen a video on youtube and there were still control panels left inside. I didn't let on how exciting that statement was at the time but as soon as i got home i hunted down said video, apparently made by a local explorer but maybe just a random local or interested Western Power worker, i couldn't really tell. What i could tell however that it was bloody good and i needed to go look myself.

Fast forward to July and im down there at the end of a long weekend exploring and lounging on the beach fighting through brambles and what not trying to get close to the building without being seen on the CCTV from the live substation next door. In the end i couldn't do it, it just had to go for it, jog past a couple of big black ball cameras and hunt down a way in hoping someone in a control room at western power HQ wasn't eyeing my every move on and on the phone to Devon and Cornwall. I did eventually make it inside but didn't feel like hanging around for too long just taking time to grab some shots of the main event and stick my head into a couple of the other dark cable chamber and switch rooms to verify there wasn't rely anything else to epic to see..

The room itself is pretty amazing. I think probably only rivalled by the pair at Battersea for me. The control panels are obviously mint but what made it so good was how long its sat disused. 1969 entries in the log books and a nice swivel office chair to match! Not a hint of modern! The station at Hayle was conceived in 1910 and had closed by 1973, its hard to say exactly how old the controls actually are as the station was frequently updated with new turbines and equipment and presumably this control room was added at some point during its life rather than from day one. It seems to me to be 1930s in style i think with a bit of a deco feel to it in places but possibly as late as the 50s, who knows?

Anyway enjoy the photos and keep your eyes open for more of these. I know they are out there

On 13 March 1910, Harvey & Co of Hayle signed an agreement with the Cornwall Electric Power Company, for them to build a power station on land owned by Harveys.[3][4] Stage 1 of the station's construction was completed by Carkeeks of Redruth. It began on 7 May 1910, and was completed thirty weeks later on 12 December 1910 and generation began.

Initially the station used a single 900 kilowatt (kW) Belliss & Morcom (B&M) steam turbine, supplied with steam by two Babcock & Wilcox boilers. This powered a Dick, Kerr & Co. alternator. In 1911 a 500 kW (B&M) was added, to utilise steam from the first turbine. This powered a Lancashire Dynamo alternator. Another two identical generating sets were added between 1912 and 1913. Between 1914 and 1916, two 3,000 kW Richardsons Westgarth & Company, each supplied with steam by two Hancock & Wilco boilers. This brought the station's generating capacity to 8,800 kW.

In 1928 a 7,500 kW British Thomson-Houston (BTH) turbo-alternator was added, supplied with steam from the Babcock & Wilcox boilers. In 1929, a 500 kW Parsons turbo alternator was moved to the station from Carn Brea Power Station, along with a Babcock & Wilcox boiler, but they were never satisfactory and were removed by 1935.

In 1932, a 10,000 kW English Electric turbo-alternator was added, provided for by a Sterling boiler. In 1933 the station was connected to the National Grid, so electricity could be imported or exported by the company. A 300 kW English Electric turbo alternator was installed in 1935, primarily for pumping circulatory water around the station in case of a shutdown. By this time the station's nameplate generating capacity was 36,600 kW, but in 1936, the first six generating units were put up for sale as scrap, bringing the capacity down to 27,800 kW.

In 1938, Imperial Chemical Industries built the British Ethyl Works near to the power station, and the station provided it directly with electricity at 11 kilovolts. The works also used the station's waste hot water. Associated Octel took over using the station's water in 1948. In December 1938, heavy snow fell on England and for the first time the station was required to operate at maximum capacity.

In 1939, a 15,000 kW English Electric turbo alternator was added, provided with steam by a Sterling boiler. However this created problems with high water temperature and cooling problems on low tides, and so a dam was built near the station.

In 1947, another 15,000 kW English Electric turbo alternator was added, provided with steam by two Sterling boilers. In 1949, a 20,000 kW English Electric turbo alternator was added, with a Yarrow boiler. In 1959, another 20,000 kW turbo alternator was added, this time provided by BTH, as well as another Yarrow boiler. This brought the station's generating capacity to its highest, at over 70,000 kW.

In 1972, some of the station's older generating sets were taken out of service. In September 1973, Associated Octel closed and ceased to take the station's hot water. This, combined with large, modern stations taking base load, led to the station rarely being called upon to generate, and it closed by the end of the year.

The station's two chimneys were demolished in June 1981. The station's turbine hall and boiler room were demolished the following December. To fit with an agreement made before the station's construction, the site was cleared following demolition.

 

[Esoteric Eric]

Excellent stuff mate, I much prefer control rooms in a state of dereliction to the modern incarnations. The one at the soda works was one of my favourite explores, there's something about that green!

I think deco experienced a bit of a revival in 50s architecture. Good to see anyway, thought you'd been a bit quiet on here recently.

 

[Ojay]

Lush that!

 

[host]

What a stunning place, job well done.

 

[Cloth Head]

very nice well done.

 

[hamtagger]

Yep, that's well nice, good work

 

[WhoDerpsWins]

Isn't that there a video on YouTube of some dude walking around the place with an Alsatian? Glad it's still around, lovely place indeed.

 

[Boba Low]

Haha I found the video too but I'll be honest I almost certainly would never have got round to going down there! Respect your dedication as always, absolute litte corker really.

 

[Speed]

Thats the one.

 

[The Amateur Wanderer]

Fantastic, not seen anything this good crop up for a while, thanks for sharing

 

[Dempsey]

Ah yes, echoing Boba's post here, we've been wanting to get down and o this for ages! But its just in such a shite location!

You're half right about the date of equipment. Its all 1950's gear, but even then 20,000kw turbines were already out dated. I'm guessing it was just because she was an old and small A station, and they fitted units to the structure size. She's lovely never the less, a real rarity, I'll have to make arrangements as I want to record some of that kit.

If anyone is interested in more control rooms like this, have a read into something that is called an Electrical Control Room, its a railway term and some of the older DC control rooms are very similar to this. Sadly just like power station heritage, they get demolished with no recording.

 

[zombizza]

I love this.
Got any close ups of those big black things on the panels to the right of the desk?

 

[Oxygen Thief]

Blimey that's mint, lights on as well for a bonus. Nice work Speed.

 

[Camera Shy]

Fuckety fuck that's nice.

 

[darbians]

Now that's a bit lush man.