Whitebirk Power Station
 

Whitebirk power station was a coal powered station, work was started on it I believe in 1919 and it was in use until the 1970's.
I was just wondering if anyone has any old pics of it and the surrounding area or perhaps an old map showing the layout of the buildings and cooling towers.

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

This might be worth a look Less.


http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?p...rchPhrase=true

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

ive lived here nearly 11 years and i didnt even know whitebirk had had a power station (no i dont live on whitebirk, i live in the better part :D)

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

Thanks Doug had a look on that site earlier could only find this:-

http://www.cottontown.org/Nimoi/site...es/jb09601.jpg

Which would you believe is supposed to be a view they recommend sending to you friends. Unfortunately I am looking for piccys of when it was working really, but thanks anyway.:p

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

If you take 11 years away from 2007 then you will get back as far as 1996 as I have already said it went out of use in the 1970's which just might make it a little bit before your time.:D

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ok stop picking on me :( *runs off to tell daddy*

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Found this if this is any use.

I remember watching those towers being blown up :)

Oh and I live at Whitebirk :D

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ok now thats scarey, i live at intack :rolleyes:

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I've found this photograph of the cooling towers at Whitebirk, which as children we always called the giant's egg cups.:p



Sorry, the image won't link, but here is the page. The photograph is half way down, and can be enlarged.

http://www.mike-stevens.co.uk/report...977a/page1.htm

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

Here it is as an attachment.

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

I remember them well and also used to call them giant egg cups. In fact, when I go to Ossy I still look out for them.

Did I dream it or did someone at one stage offer them for sale at a pound each?

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gawd im having vivid memories but cant say wether it was whitebirk or not......still looking at the pics im assuming they were like on the dual carraigeway as we know it ???

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Yrah they were sold for £1 each and the person who bought them had to knock them down and remove the rubble to claim the land, the retail park is in their place now

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i used to call them cloud makers :D but not the one's at whitebirk cos i'm OBVIOUSLY to young to remember them :D

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my grandad worked there before moving onto padiham power station,

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Found this if it's any good http://www.lmars.co.uk/images/whitebirk/21.JPG.................and just realised was put up earlier LOL !!!:p

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I worked at the Power Station from 1950 until I left in 1967. It had 12 Simon Carves chain grate boilers, one 30 Mw and three 40Mw turbo generators.. The coal weas delivered by barge and rail, coming from Bank Hall Collery, Burnley and Bickershaw Collery in the Wigan area.

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

Coal was also delivered by road, I took many tons in there from Bank Hall as well as the other pits you mention. We turned down a lane on the left of the Rishton road just after the Whitebirk crossroads to get to the coal stack. Gilbraith and Gilmartin might have had as many as a dozen tippers on the job at once. This was in the late 60's.

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

A few more bits and bobs...

I used to travel on the train to school between Accrington and Blackburn in the late Fifties and much of the Sixties. Coal trains from Yorkshire used to supply the power station, and also barges (I presume from Wigan) on the L&L canal. I remember them being frozen in every winter.

As an aside, though built by Blackburn Corporation, the power station was outwith Blackburn County Borough, and as such provided a huge chunk of rates to the neighbouring local authority - presumably Rishton or Great Harwood.

Closer to Blackburn town centre, on the other side of the so-called arterial road, was a peculiarly evil gasworks. I seem to think it was called Greengate or similar. The industrial / retail park covers it now, but goodness only knows what's in the ground.

Rgds

John45378

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

I think it was called Greenbank, there was a large railway sidings there as well.
I picked up coke from the gas works when I was on a tipper and delivered it to coal merchants.

I think the main central Police Station is there now.

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

Which is called "Green Bank"
We were talking about the railway bridge over the ring road when it was a single arch

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My dad was the rating and valuation officer at Rishton urban district council back in the '50's, and I remember him telling me that Blackburn council had to pay rates to Rishton for the land on which the power station stood because it had been built on the Rishton side of the boundary by mistake.

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That was right clanger, building a power station on the wrong site by mistake. Mind you it was good for the income of Rishton.

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Bet Ken Moss deosn't know that :D, now he will be on a new campaign to get a bigger share of the business taxes paid to the Hyndburn Borough general fund from the shopping area to be spent in his "village" ;)



sorry maybe it's me , but to keep calling Rishton a village is plain wrong , it's nowt like a village, a typical village is supposed to have a bit of charm :D :D

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Aw, Steely, I spent the first 26 years of my life in Rishton and have lots of happy memories, even if they were a bit insular.:)

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Its quite easy to make that statement when your across the pond SJ, out of the reach of Mossy:D

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And now they want to revamp the Peel Retail Centre (Whitebirk Retail Park).

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Come on Bee your slipping wheres the link;)

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What year was the Whitebirk Retail Park built?.

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

Must have been there same time ('62-'66), control room & efficiency office, can lay claim to stealing 6,000 tons of coal during that time, at least it wasn't there when they shut it down and did the final stocktake.
Parker was the super followed by Keogh. Harry Mitchel deputy and John Prentice ops super. I went to Fleetwood, Roy Ashworth went to Wylfa.
Other names spring to mind, Alan Kershaw, Charlie Small, Sid Carr,Bill Heys.
The plant was built in two halves, turbines 3 & 4 with boilers 10 to 15 then after the war 5 & 6 with 16 to 20.
T/A 6 was connected to the 132 Kv Grid the rest to the Blackburn area network and another Grid connection. At a good push it could send out 150Mw but not for long.

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the whole site was sold to peel holdings who still own it along with the Trafford centre and many other developments.they want to make changes to the present site but the know it all do nowt councillors of Hyndburn and Blackburn seem to have objections saying it could harm the already dead town centres.:mad::rolleyes::confused::(

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

forgot to mention that peel holdings paid £1 for the whole site.

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I think the first units on the Whitebirk Retail Park were built in the early 1980s. The other side of the railway line, the part known as Trident Park, with all the car dealerships, has only been built within about the last five years.

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Some business were on the Whitebirk site before 1980 Judith, I worked a firm who built prefab buildings, Premier Construction, in the early 70s and there were quite a few other businesses were also operating too

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Near sure M.F.I. was yon in 70s, remember buying some crap units.:D the one n only time.

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I bought a garage from Premier before the moved and were then at the bottom of Audley Range near to the bridge is that Bolton Road. (not sure don't know Blackburn well) made out of asbestos and wood and fitted on a concrete base at 11or15 Banbury Ave Oswaldtwisle. not sure number of the house long time ago brand new semi cost £1,450.

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Ya it was one of the first on there cashy, was certainly there when I worked for Premier Construction

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After the station closed (late 70s?) 2 of my rock-climbing mates (Dave Cronshaw & Bob McMillan) climbed the outside of one of the cooling towers & abseiled off. The police had been called and were waiting for them when they got down but let them off with a caution.

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I'm sure my wife has a picture of the towers coming down, somewhere...

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That's weird, I grew up on Banbury Ave and my friend lived at no.15. They did have a garage, think it had a green door.I remember playing in it. (all through the seventies). My mum and dad still live there.:o

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Lived on Dudley Ave in 80s may know em.:)

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Sorry it was no 12 so my wife tells me, and after looking on Google she is right as usual. We bought the house 1965/66 when I worked for the NCB as a mechanic, so we got ten bags of smokeless fuel for £1 and had a Rayburn fire with a glass front, it got so hot we had to run water off the cistern and the radiators nearly bounced off the walls. I remember our mortgage was £11 10 shillings a month.

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I bought my first house in Accrington on a ten year 7% fixed mortgage in 1966, I still have the receipt for the final payment. £4. 6s, 8d.
That's two pints in the Read Con.

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They were the Sharrock family, Maurice worked for the Post Office.:o its a small world. I must have passed you many times in the street /Spar.

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I remember two lovely people living at no. 12. Doris and Ricky Roberts. We're they the people who bought your house. We moved in in 1969 and, I think, they were already living there.

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Memorys not what it was, only folk i really remember are the Mullens off yon, And thats cos i knew sean from early 60s.:o but i did know some ossy Sharrocks one was a wagon driver (Pete) were i worked.:) also knew a good few posties, in fact one was me best man way back. His sister is a member on here .

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We both remember Ricky and Doris they moved in to no14 just after we moved into 12, there drive was higher than ours, and Ricky had a flash red Ford Cortina. They were older than us and had no children but treat ours like their own.
Clutching straws would you know anything about them now

Re: Whitebirk Power Station
 

Found Accy Web while searching for info re Whitebirk Power Station. I now know the towers were demolished in 1983. Ref Doris and Rick, I too live on Banbury Avenue and, unfortunately, Doris died around 2003. Rick died several years earlier I believe.

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Can I put my twopennorth in on this thread.Around 1945 we lived in Brantwood Avenue Intack.From our back bedroom window I watched the cooling towers being erected.So the answer to the question about when it was built is around 1945.I can confirm this because I was therein the flesh so to speak.

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1932 I can remember the single railway bridge on the ring road

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Live in Little Harwood,and my neighnour ,no longer around ,worked there.I was about 8 years old.then which was in the 1960s......There was talk of rebuilding a new stadium for Blackburn Rovers there at one time..

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A friend of mine, Jack, was an engineer at Whitebirk Power Station. He had an old Standard car in pristine condition. When he passed on I lost contact with his family.

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I worked there in the control room 1969-1975
Graham Swarbrick