Ironbridge Power Station: Demolition would be ‘sacrilege’
He drove past the world famous cooling towers nearly every day throughout his 50 year career – and now John W Morris is standing up to save them.
The 77-year-old said that the towers were an important part of the Ironbridge Gorge landscape, and that they were a reflection of the area’s history.
And he’s not alone – more than 130 people have signed the Gnosall man’s petition calling for them to be protected.
The handwritten petition includes signatures from Telford, Gnosall, Newport, Eccleshall, Bridgnorth, Cannock and even the Isle of Man.
John said: “These are very important to the people of Ironbridge. It could be a good attraction for people all over the world. It’s part of history – to destroy them is sacrilege.
“It’ll take two years and millions of pounds to clear the site, it would be better to spend that money turning it into an attraction.
“Make them into a museum with live steam trains running around them. It wouldn’t take much to get foreigners coming all over to see them.”
As a contractor, John also worked regularly at the Coalbrookdale Foundry, where staff put down their tools for the last time last week.
“Ironbridge Gorge has changed for the worse over the last 50 years, especially now with the Coalbrookdale Foundry gone.
“These are very important parts of history and it’s heresy that anybody would think of tearing them down.”
Full demolition of the main power station site is set to begin in Spring 2018 and will include the removal of all the buildings that have come to the end of their operational life.
The work is expected to take about 36 months and it is anticipated that the sites iconic pink cooling towers will be demolished using controlled detonation.
Uniper has set up both an enquiry line and an email address for anyone with questions regarding the site plans.
People should contact 0121 270 8855 and UniperUK@outlook.com respectively.
Towers as ‘important as the Iron Bridge’
For 20 years Roger Evans went to work in the shadow of Ironbridge Power Station’s mammoth cooling towers, and now the former engineer is calling for them to be saved from demolition.
Mr Evans, now a councillor representing Longden, started work at the power station as a junior engineer in 1974.
He retired 20 years later in 1994 as one of the plant’s senior engineers.
Uniper, the owners of the power station in Buildwas, have made a submission to Shropshire Council for prior approval to clear the site, including the demolition of the towers.
A number of people have called for the towers to be preserved as part of the heritage of the Ironbridge Gorge and now Mr Evans has added his voice to those calls.
He said: “I would like very much for them to stay. They are part of the history for the gorge. They were specially coloured so they fitted into the landscape.
“When you go on The Iron Bridge and walk up the side of the river you can see the towers there, so you have got the past history there with the bridge and the towers showing the recent history in the 1960s when the station was built.”
Mr Evans said the towers are “part of the landscape and the heritage of England and Ironbridge”.
He said he hoped a mixed use could be found for the site that retains the railway link and the towers.
He said: “I would like them to maintain the railway connection because I think it is important. Then it should be developed as part of the heritage site. We have got a World Heritage Site there, why not capitalise on it and why not have some mixed development on the site?”
Full demolition of the main power station site is set to begin in Spring 2018 and will include the removal of all the buildings that have come to the end of their operational life.
The work is expected to take about 36 months and it is anticipated that the site’s iconic pink cooling towers will be demolished using controlled detonation.
The power station has been shut since November 2015 and earlier this year, the 141-hectare site was put up for sale.
Property experts Cushman and Wakefield are handling the sale process on behalf of Uniper.
The plant was officially switched off on November 20, 2015, after 46 years of service, following an EU directive.
Under the EU, ageing plants like Ironbridge were legally limited in the emissions they can produce and its operating hours were restricted in 2008.
