Locals divided over future of 'ugly' power plant cooling towers

Britain's last coal-fired power station has closed to a mixed reaction from locals with some saying the the imposing plant is a ‘blot of the landscape’ and ‘best to get rid of’ while others are very sorry to see it go.

At midnight on Monday the station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar switched off its generators for the very last time after more than 50 years of powering Nottinghamshire.

The symbolic moment makes the UK the first G7 country to close down all of its coal power stations and marks the end of 142 years of the nation’s reliance on the fossil fuel to generate electricity.

Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station has been generating electricity since 1968 via its four coal-fired boilers, eight vast cooling towers and 199m-tall chimney, which occupies a prominent spot in the East Midlands skyline. 

Among residents mourning the loss of the historic sight, is retired farmer Bill White, 72, who said: ‘It's part of life around here and we’ll really miss it. It's the end of an era.'

He was a boy of 12 when the eight enormous towers, standing 114m sprung up across the fields from his family farm.  

The former arable and cattle farmer, whose home in Kegworth, North West Leicestershire, overlooks the plant, told MailOnline: ‘I will really miss it. I saw it being built and it will be very strange without it.

'It is such a big site and is part of life around here.’

Mr White lives at Long Lane Farm with his brother John, 70. The siblings used to farm 320 acres until retiring in 2016. 

John added: ‘I hope they leave part of the plant up, maybe one or two symbolic towers. We need energy and the workforce needs jobs.

'When we first came to live here it wasn't even there so we have grown up with it.'

However, decorator Dennis Beadman: ‘I’d rather the towers came down. Get rid of them! They are ugly and spoil the view for people looking over them.

'If you want to preserve a piece of history, you don't need to have a physical presence remaining, you can take pictures. Photos are memories.' 

The station has been generating electricity since 1968 via its four coal-fired boilers, eight vast cooling towers and 199m-tall chimney, which occupies a prominent spot in the East Midlands skyline.

Nottinghamshire-born TV writer James Graham, renowned for his hit Sherwood series, has suggested the towers, he describes as ‘majestic’ and 'concrete cathedrals,’ should be preserved.

A petition has now been launched to save some of the cooling towers as a monument to the country's industrial past.

Read More

ROSS CLARK: It's disturbing that Labour ministers are gleeful over British industry's death

It is planned that the power plant will be decommissioned over the next two years, and it is then expected to be demolished.

The owner of Long Lane Equestrian Centre  in Kegworth Sally Warwick said: ‘I am glad it will be going, it is a bit of an eyesore! 

‘We’ve had to put up with pollution from the towers and it is a blot on the landscape.

Ms Warwick, 44, who rides on nearby land, said: ‘Our stables overlooks it. You are always looking across at it and simply can’t avoid it.

'We have grown up with it and it has been part of our landscape for so many years but I’ll look forward to the time it goes.

‘I say best get rid of it but I know a lot of people disagree and like the towers. They have been taking pictures and posting both old and new ones on social media.

‘I must say there are some lovely photos showing the towers surrounded by water and during sunsets, and it makes you feel a bit nostalgic.

‘I’d like to see nothing else there - just fields and nature.'

Malcolm Harris, a retired railways quality assurance engineer, said: ‘It is such a shame we are going to get rid of it. I always cycle past it.

‘Many of the local villagers are like me and want it to stay, others want it to go.

'We need a coal plant and my biggest concern is seeing all that lot sold to China.

’We are hearing different rumours of what is may eventually be turned into from houses to a research centre or business park.'

Dog walker Michelle Adey said: ‘It's the very last coal burning power station in the country and it's a sad sign of the times that it is closing. It’s a shame and with all the loss of jobs.

‘We’re used to it, we see it all the time, and no, it's not an eyesore!”

The market trader, 52, out with her two dogs, added: '‘It has always been on the horizon and when it’s no longer there it will seem very strange.

'I’d like the towers to stay, they are a bit of a local landmark.

'You fly over then coming into East Midlands Airport, you spot, the, and you know you are nearly back home.'  

Mr Beadman, 63, from Rothley, Leicestershire, who regularly travels past the site, added: ‘Maybe TV show Grand Design will turn it into huge homes.’

Accountant Martin Rice, out walking, said: ‘I have no strong opinion either way but it will be better for the environment with them gone so I guess I’m in favour of them being knocked down.

'I’ve known them for all my adult life - they have always been part of the landscape. I wouldn’t mind if they stayed but I’d prefer they go.'

Mr Rice, 57, from Long Eaton, Derbyshire, said: ‘Many people living around here are outdoors type and the towers are a blot on the landscape and we’d prefer to see the blue sky and nothing replace them.

'You can see them from all parts of our town, we’re on the border with Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.'

Read More

Plans for UK's first new coal mine in 30 years are quashed by High Court judge

Noel Kennedy, 71, a retired contract driver for the plant, said: ‘It's sad to see it go. I used to work there as a driver for more than 25 years, taking the coal there.

'It’s a massive site. 550 acres. It was a brilliant place to work and everyone was very friendly. I retired 10 years ago.

'I can see houses being built there but it is a flood area so maybe not.

'I like it more now it’s going because it's coming to the end of an era and we took it for granted. But I know some people are glad to see it go.’

His wife Mary Kennedy 69, a retired school cook, added: ‘I don’t mind if it stays or goes but I know a lot of people locally who have mad a good living working there and have been there al their lives will be sorry.

The couple, who have two sons, have lived in nearby Kegworth since 1980.

Mrs Kennedy said: ’There was never a problem with noise or dust. You sometimes saw black clouds looming above but never knew if that was from the towers or the sky.’

Paul Sissons, 54, a narrowboat broker at Sawley Marina, said: 'It's been here all my life and it will be very strange without it.

'It will be a shame to see it go. I can see it being replaced with a green energy hydrogen plant.

Both Mr Sissons' home and workplace in the village of Sawley, Derbyshire, overlook the towers, said: ’Strangely they look bigger from afar and smaller close up.'

‘I have worked at the marina, where we have 500 boats, for 30 years, and it will be odd not seeing it across the water.'

Over the years Ratcliffe has played a key role in keeping the nation’s lights on. Since commissioning it has produced enough energy to make more than 21 trillion cups of tea and its 2GW capacity was enough to power two million homes.

Many of the 170 people employed by the plant's German owner Uniper will stay on to help with the two-year decommissioning process.

James Graham has paid tribute to the towers, posting on X : 'Some might think they're ugly. I think they're majestic. Concrete cathedrals.

‘I got to stand inside one, filming Sherwood series two. I've never stood anywhere like it on Earth.

'I'd love future generations to stand in them too. But they are inexplicably all going – all of them.

He suggested Ratcliffe-on-Soar could be home to a national museum to the Industrial Revolution, 'welcoming travellers to the birth of the modern world.'

Plant manager Peter O’Grady said it had been an ‘emotional few days’ for the staff.

He told the BBC that the closure symbolised ‘the end of the Industrial Revolution in one circumstance.'

He said: 'Coal's been the backbone of power in the UK for over a century, and here we are now, the first day of zero coal on the electricity system.

'As an icon for the world in terms of climate leadership, it's a huge statement.’

 At an official closing down ceremony on Tuesday Mike Lockett, the UK Country Chair at Uniper, which runs the Ratcliffe site, said: "We gathered everybody in the restaurant with a live link to the control room to watch the final switch off and it was a genuine mixed emotional moment.

‘There was a lot of sadness, but at the moment of disconnection, there was a big cheer from the team. 57 years of reliable power generation coming to an end is definitely something to celebrate, recognising it's the end of an era.’

East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward said: 'The decommissioning of the power station marks the end of an era for the East Midlands, but it’s not a time for nostalgia- it’s the beginning of an exciting future for our region.

‘As we move away from coal and toward cleaner, greener energy sources, we are not just closing a chapter, we are writing a new one, where our communities will lead the way in green technology, renewable energy, and climate action.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: ‘Today's closure at Ratcliffe marks the end of an era and coal workers can be rightly proud of their work powering our country for over 140 years. We owe generations a debt of gratitude as a country.

'The era of coal might be ending, but a new age of good energy jobs for our country is just beginning. The Government's clean energy superpower mission is about creating good jobs in wind power and new technologies like carbon capture and storage.'