Littlebrook Chimney Climb
The 705ft (215m) tall chimney is the fourth largest in the UK, sitting on the river Thames next to the Dartford crossing and Queen Elizabeth 2 Bridge. Massive props to @slayaaaa for this one, wouldn’t have been possible without his help.
History
Littlebrook power station actually refers to a group of four station labelled A though to D. Little brook A, B and C where all opened between 1939-1956 and all closed between 1973-1981. All three initially burn coal before moving on to burring oil instead.
Littlebrook D began construction in 1976 and was commissioned to burn oil from the get go. With the threat of the cold war still prominent, the station was built with a considerable amount of redundancy should the worst ever happen. The site generated 1370 MW which would sustain approximately two million people. The site was killed off due to the Large Combustion Plant Directive employed by the EU, this basically meant that the plant had to comply with new regulations on emissions or close down. Being such an old site it is assumed that the money required to meet the new requirements would far outweigh the potential profits should it stay open. The plant closed down on the 31st of March 2015
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littlebrook_Power_Station
Current site clearing
A good portion of the site has already been torn down and removed only leaving a few major buildings left. Boiler house and turbine hall B were recently levelled with plans for another of the turbine halls to be blown up on the 9th of June. No explicit date for the demolition of the chimney but the site is set to be completely clear by 2020.
References
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/power-station-to-be-blown-up-while-crossing-closed-181752/
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/second-late-night-explosion-at-power-plant-183452/
The climb (Walk)
After the heads up of from @slayaaaa , I started the 2 hour drive down there the following evening; with about 25 minutes before I got there I could see a chimney on the horizon. It was at that point that a realised how tall 705ft actually is… Parked up, went for a wander and before I knew it was at the base of the tower. Safe to say I tried every other option before realising the way in, but once in it was piece of cake, stairs all the way to the top, how hard could it be? Started at a reasonable pace, stopped for a drink and well, no water bottle… Had to bring two essentials, head touch and a water bottle. Regardless, it was too late to go back now. I continued up the chimney taking breaks more and more often. I was now about ¾ of the way up and it had become a real struggle, it got to the point where I was doing a single step at a time; constantly looking up to see if the stairs were coming to an end. Eventually I got to the top of the stairs, quite a few names and dates on the wall which was nice. I then noticed the two insults between me and the top, two ladders to climb after all those stairs. Not very big ladders but after no water and 80 flights of stair, ladders were the last thing I wanted to see. Not only had that but the 2nd ladder led to the hatch which didn’t have the biggest gap in world. I got to the hatch and poked my head though to see the view, suddenly the dehydration and exhaustion just disappeared. Through the rucksack went followed by myself, I had finally reached the top. Quick look over the edge to check for security but nothing in sight, had the whole chimney to myself. The climb (walk) took about 45 minutes in total. It was about time to make the most of the light and take some photos.
I was pretty lucky as the night was really clear, I could see to central London with the 300mm; getting snaps of the Shard and Canary Wharf. With its close proximity to the QE2 Bridge, I could look down on it and watch the cars go across like ants. After taking as many photos as I could and admiring the view it was time to leave. Which check over the edge to check for security and…. Shit, no security but there is a fairly bright light at the base of the tower. Although there was no sign of security, it seemed strange to have a light, which at the time, looked like it was shining out the bottom of the chimney. Waited around for a while to make sure no one was on their way up and then decided to head down.
After not having anything to drink for quite a while, I can only describe my mouth as Ghandi’s flip flop. I raced down the stairs using my hand to slide and stepping on each set of stairs once. Made quick work with gravity on my side and got to the bottom in no time. Once there i found the light was actually on the outside of the chimney and no one seemed to be around. Left the chimney and headed for the perimeter fence. And as per usual, I find the easy way out which I had ignored on the way in…. Regardless, I was out now time to walk back to the car and head home. Job well done.
Now about time for some photos, enjoy.
Photos
Thanks for reading
Exxperious
The 705ft (215m) tall chimney is the fourth largest in the UK, sitting on the river Thames next to the Dartford crossing and Queen Elizabeth 2 Bridge. Massive props to @slayaaaa for this one, wouldn’t have been possible without his help.
History
Littlebrook power station actually refers to a group of four station labelled A though to D. Little brook A, B and C where all opened between 1939-1956 and all closed between 1973-1981. All three initially burn coal before moving on to burring oil instead.
Littlebrook D began construction in 1976 and was commissioned to burn oil from the get go. With the threat of the cold war still prominent, the station was built with a considerable amount of redundancy should the worst ever happen. The site generated 1370 MW which would sustain approximately two million people. The site was killed off due to the Large Combustion Plant Directive employed by the EU, this basically meant that the plant had to comply with new regulations on emissions or close down. Being such an old site it is assumed that the money required to meet the new requirements would far outweigh the potential profits should it stay open. The plant closed down on the 31st of March 2015
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littlebrook_Power_Station
Current site clearing
A good portion of the site has already been torn down and removed only leaving a few major buildings left. Boiler house and turbine hall B were recently levelled with plans for another of the turbine halls to be blown up on the 9th of June. No explicit date for the demolition of the chimney but the site is set to be completely clear by 2020.
References
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/power-station-to-be-blown-up-while-crossing-closed-181752/
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/second-late-night-explosion-at-power-plant-183452/
The climb (Walk)
After the heads up of from @slayaaaa , I started the 2 hour drive down there the following evening; with about 25 minutes before I got there I could see a chimney on the horizon. It was at that point that a realised how tall 705ft actually is… Parked up, went for a wander and before I knew it was at the base of the tower. Safe to say I tried every other option before realising the way in, but once in it was piece of cake, stairs all the way to the top, how hard could it be? Started at a reasonable pace, stopped for a drink and well, no water bottle… Had to bring two essentials, head touch and a water bottle. Regardless, it was too late to go back now. I continued up the chimney taking breaks more and more often. I was now about ¾ of the way up and it had become a real struggle, it got to the point where I was doing a single step at a time; constantly looking up to see if the stairs were coming to an end. Eventually I got to the top of the stairs, quite a few names and dates on the wall which was nice. I then noticed the two insults between me and the top, two ladders to climb after all those stairs. Not very big ladders but after no water and 80 flights of stair, ladders were the last thing I wanted to see. Not only had that but the 2nd ladder led to the hatch which didn’t have the biggest gap in world. I got to the hatch and poked my head though to see the view, suddenly the dehydration and exhaustion just disappeared. Through the rucksack went followed by myself, I had finally reached the top. Quick look over the edge to check for security but nothing in sight, had the whole chimney to myself. The climb (walk) took about 45 minutes in total. It was about time to make the most of the light and take some photos.
I was pretty lucky as the night was really clear, I could see to central London with the 300mm; getting snaps of the Shard and Canary Wharf. With its close proximity to the QE2 Bridge, I could look down on it and watch the cars go across like ants. After taking as many photos as I could and admiring the view it was time to leave. Which check over the edge to check for security and…. Shit, no security but there is a fairly bright light at the base of the tower. Although there was no sign of security, it seemed strange to have a light, which at the time, looked like it was shining out the bottom of the chimney. Waited around for a while to make sure no one was on their way up and then decided to head down.
After not having anything to drink for quite a while, I can only describe my mouth as Ghandi’s flip flop. I raced down the stairs using my hand to slide and stepping on each set of stairs once. Made quick work with gravity on my side and got to the bottom in no time. Once there i found the light was actually on the outside of the chimney and no one seemed to be around. Left the chimney and headed for the perimeter fence. And as per usual, I find the easy way out which I had ignored on the way in…. Regardless, I was out now time to walk back to the car and head home. Job well done.
Now about time for some photos, enjoy.
Photos
Thanks for reading
Exxperious
