Past Power To the People…

I’m not sure where my fascination with cooling towers came from – maybe the few around Padiham when I was a kid caught my eye? They’re just so incredibly huge and un-natural looking that I’m quite drawn to them. So when I got to Leeds and started discovering the county of West Yorkshire (andy beyond), I’d end up photographing these things whilst my peers were on the piers at Whitby and Saltburn, or in the dales.

Ferrybridge, Eggborough and Drax are the big ones in Yorkshire, and they’re surrounded by large fields, so you can get some nice juxtaposition shots of lovely wheat fields with the towers looming over them!

Don’t get too close though, the security people are soon out to accuse you of being naughty and ask you to move on!

 This dis-used power station is a bit of a find really, you can find all sorts of photographic delights just walking around – the echos you get when stood inside the towers is a totally unique experience. Even a small pebble being kicked causes a long, lingering boom sound. Try singing Puccini in there!

There are 5 towers, each one seems to have a slightly different interior, be it full of wood, totally empty, got a bridge in there or even some kind of cat-walk.

The graffiti boys have been there too, so the grey drabness of 330 feet of concrete is broken by their colourful sprayings.

 They’re so dark inside, that any views outside tend to be just white, so I put an eye in the sky on this next one… just out of curiosity really.

There is a bit of greenery poking through… not a lot though!

You need an ultra wide lens to get floor-to-sky photos 

There is a lot of red brick littering the place – thought I’d bring out the reds in this next shot.

Not sure what the square thing is here, though we guessed it was a huge water tank