Dying Embers: The UK's last Coal Fired Power Stations

Published: Dec. 6, 2022, 1:09 p.m.

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The UKs last remaining coal fired power stations are about to close, bringing to an end our use of coal to produce our electricity. West Burton is one of the last coal fired power stations still generating electricity, and Andrew Carter was able to record a soundscape there before it falls silent for ever.\\nWest Burton was originally planned to close in September 2022, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine has extended its operations until the spring of 2023 to help with continuity of supply during the current energy crisis.\\nAndrew's late father was a mechanical engineer, and he worked for the Central Electricity Generating Board, and fifty years ago he took Andrew around Cottam power station \\u2013 which is just up the road from West Burton \\u2013 and as you can imagine that tour around the plant left a big impression on an eight year old.\\nAs luck would have it, when Andrew was recording at West Burton, he was able to go to Cottam, which he discovered is now in the process of being demolished, and he walked again in his father\\u2019s footsteps. It brought back a lot of poignant memories.\\nThis soundscape in an operating, and disused coal fired power station is Andrew's homage to his father, before these cathedrals of power are reduced to rubble, capturing, before it\\u2019s too late, the sounds that would otherwise be lost to history.\\nA BBC Radio Cumbria production, produced by Andrew Carter

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