VIDEO | First Fiddlers Ferry cooling towers demolished
Contractor P.P. O’Connor exploded four of the eight cooling towers at the former power station in Warrington on Sunday.
The blowdown makes way for developer Peel NRE’s plans for the wider 820-acre Fiddlers Ferry site, which include 4m sq ft of industrial space and a neighbourhood with 860 family homes, a GP surgery, a primary school, and shops.
A planning application for the first 1.4m sq ft of logistics building was submitted to Warrington Council in March by Peel NRE, which is part of Peel L&P. A consultation on the wider masterplan is expected to begin in January.
Sunday’s demolition marked P.P. O’Connor’s first foray into power station razing. More than 200 kilograms of explosives were used in the process.
The demolition had been in the works since June, with hazardous material being removed in advance and safety concerns being addressed.
“The team has been incredible,” said Charmaine O’Connor, chief executive of P.P. O’Connor. “They’ve planned everything to the tenth degree.”
While foggy conditions prevented onlookers from seeing the demolition in person, P.P. O’Connor-commissioned footage from Sky Revolutions provided a close-up view of the towers falling. Sky Revolutions also shared the film with Place North West, and can see the footage in the video at the top of this article.
Keith Johnson was one of those gathered at The Hayloft in Widnes to watch the razing of the towers. Johnson was part of the electrical installation team that worked on Fiddlers Ferry power station. He had started on the project in 1967 and worked on the site until it came into full operation in 1973.
Johnson felt it was only fitting that since he saw the birth of the towers he saw their passing.
Fiddlers Ferry had been a transformative job for Johnson, who had, in his words, been “just an ordinary electrician working on housing estates and small units”.
“To come to a large construction site like this was an enormous change in my life,” he said.
For Johnson, the towers held many memories. He still keeps in touch with several of those he worked with back then.
Charmaine O’Connor acknowledged that the demolition of the cooling towers was a bittersweet moment.
“It’s been a real icon,” she said. “Everyone sees it from the M6 and all the surrounding roads for miles away.
“It’s going to be completely changing the landscape,” she said of the razing. “But it’s also very exciting, the new development that Peel have got with their masterplan.”
Kieran Tames, development director at Peel NRE, said: “We are incredibly happy that the demolition of the four northern towers at Fiddler’s Ferry was successful. This vital stage of the development helps pave the way for future investment in Warrington, Halton, and the wider communities.”
