Uskmouth
History
Brief History
Reaching full operation in 1962, Uskmouth B power station's construction was authorised in 1957 to join and eventually take over the might of the pre-existing Uskmouth A under the operation of the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB).
The plant itself is notably different to those built in the years following, it was one of the last to be constructed from brick before the movement to metal cladding became the norm as well as boasting a rather imposing single flume chimney.
Within, Uskmouth B houses a trio of English Electric generating sets (Numbered 13 to 15) producing up to 363 Mega-watts of power. This would later be uprated to 393Mw with each set producing 131Mega-Watts each. Over its first years (1960-1 to 1981-2) the plant would produce, on average, 1,286 Giga-Watt Hours of electricity.
Considering the year it was constructed in the CEGB noted the plant for boasting a rather high thermal efficiency, among other coal-fired thermal plants, reaching around 32.8% making it a key asset on the welsh power grid due to the lesser amount of power stations in Wales.
For further reading, and the other report of this visit, refer to the following links:
Uskmouth B Power Station - Newport March 2021 by Jtza
Uskmouth Power Stations - Wikipedia
The Visit
History
Brief History
Reaching full operation in 1962, Uskmouth B power station's construction was authorised in 1957 to join and eventually take over the might of the pre-existing Uskmouth A under the operation of the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB).
The plant itself is notably different to those built in the years following, it was one of the last to be constructed from brick before the movement to metal cladding became the norm as well as boasting a rather imposing single flume chimney.
Within, Uskmouth B houses a trio of English Electric generating sets (Numbered 13 to 15) producing up to 363 Mega-watts of power. This would later be uprated to 393Mw with each set producing 131Mega-Watts each. Over its first years (1960-1 to 1981-2) the plant would produce, on average, 1,286 Giga-Watt Hours of electricity.
Considering the year it was constructed in the CEGB noted the plant for boasting a rather high thermal efficiency, among other coal-fired thermal plants, reaching around 32.8% making it a key asset on the welsh power grid due to the lesser amount of power stations in Wales.
For further reading, and the other report of this visit, refer to the following links:
Uskmouth B Power Station - Newport March 2021 by Jtza
Uskmouth Power Stations - Wikipedia
The Visit
Visited with the following: @DustySensorPhotography , @jtza , @huyt.urb , @little_ boy_explores , @UrbandonedTeam
Uskmouth had sat at the top of the list for power stations, that are still standing, I and the rest of us had wanted to visit for a while now.
After numerous amounts of not knowing how to get in and being unable to find someone to go with it was a relief to be able to give it a shot. So one evening, myself along with the others tagged above/below, started to converge on one another in wales.
Once all together, predictably at a McDonald's (because nothing says "stupid shit is about to occur" like meeting at McDonalds crammed into two separate cars) we headed off down the country lanes eventually grabbing everything from the boots and wandering off into the dark.
Having planned very little in advance we spent a lot of time going over the numerous maps we had sent each other the nights prior along with any information from others that could be gathered, trying to guess which was best.
Our alternate route all lead to having to leave the confines of the conveyor shafts and go out into the open and hope a way in would reveal itself. Once out and aware of what was going on we began to walk towards the station. Once cover had disappeared from both sides it became apparent we would become sitting ducks if not careful or quick enough. This thought was shortly followed by the clang from closing gates to our side. With that, we dropped to the floor, and watched someone carelessly wander around a small compound which was in our direct view. The few moments on the floor felt like an age but eventually we assumed the best and continued on aware that our silhouettes would need to be hidden.
The walk turned into a jog, then a run, then a scramble into the building.
Once inside, we felt fairly safe that as long as we kept quiet enough we would have free reign of the place. After navigating the boiler house with the natural grace of a bunch intoxicated beluga whales we saw our first glimpse of the Turbine Hall from a grated off door way. So we headed down to the turbine hall floor to be greeted with it once more.
It was a magnificent view. Although, ruined within moments. Out of the corner of our eye a Hi-Vis man appeared in which we yanked one another into the shadows. Great, now we had him to look out for.
We decided to stay in the turbine hall, darting across the open spaces and eventually making it up onto a small ledge. Unsure of where to go, mainly due to the employees inside, we spent the next few hours ping-ponging between the turbine hall and boiler house. Every so often we would see the workers in some of the backrooms constantly acting as a reminder of why we were hiding so much.
Our primary objective was the turbine hall so it was the first main module of the visit.
After a while we were all piling into the first of the 3 unit control rooms. Realising that everything was still online it seemed a bit daunting at first, the thought that someone would come inside for a routine check was getting to me. We wandered about for a bit inside before heading over to the second room with one of us eventually finding the light switch. Realising that the white glow of the lamps would be visible, it was only a short excursion into the control rooms.
From this point the thought of the workers within faded and we pushed close towards them into the washrooms, allowing some of us to clean the excessive coal dust from ourselves, before making a swift retirement from that area.
From this point we knew that the boiler house was the next port of call with the roof being the ultimate destination.
Heading through the turbine hall again, having given up caring about the presence of workers at this point, we headed to the ground floor before working back up.
The sun was now rising and we were tired, hungry and in need of a rest.
This point of the visit was memorable with the sunrise being an amazing end to a humorous night.
And with that, we needed to leave. Which was amusing.....
That'll be all.
KP_
After numerous amounts of not knowing how to get in and being unable to find someone to go with it was a relief to be able to give it a shot. So one evening, myself along with the others tagged above/below, started to converge on one another in wales.
Once all together, predictably at a McDonald's (because nothing says "stupid shit is about to occur" like meeting at McDonalds crammed into two separate cars) we headed off down the country lanes eventually grabbing everything from the boots and wandering off into the dark.
Having planned very little in advance we spent a lot of time going over the numerous maps we had sent each other the nights prior along with any information from others that could be gathered, trying to guess which was best.
Our alternate route all lead to having to leave the confines of the conveyor shafts and go out into the open and hope a way in would reveal itself. Once out and aware of what was going on we began to walk towards the station. Once cover had disappeared from both sides it became apparent we would become sitting ducks if not careful or quick enough. This thought was shortly followed by the clang from closing gates to our side. With that, we dropped to the floor, and watched someone carelessly wander around a small compound which was in our direct view. The few moments on the floor felt like an age but eventually we assumed the best and continued on aware that our silhouettes would need to be hidden.
The walk turned into a jog, then a run, then a scramble into the building.
Once inside, we felt fairly safe that as long as we kept quiet enough we would have free reign of the place. After navigating the boiler house with the natural grace of a bunch intoxicated beluga whales we saw our first glimpse of the Turbine Hall from a grated off door way. So we headed down to the turbine hall floor to be greeted with it once more.
It was a magnificent view. Although, ruined within moments. Out of the corner of our eye a Hi-Vis man appeared in which we yanked one another into the shadows. Great, now we had him to look out for.
We decided to stay in the turbine hall, darting across the open spaces and eventually making it up onto a small ledge. Unsure of where to go, mainly due to the employees inside, we spent the next few hours ping-ponging between the turbine hall and boiler house. Every so often we would see the workers in some of the backrooms constantly acting as a reminder of why we were hiding so much.
Our primary objective was the turbine hall so it was the first main module of the visit.
After a while we were all piling into the first of the 3 unit control rooms. Realising that everything was still online it seemed a bit daunting at first, the thought that someone would come inside for a routine check was getting to me. We wandered about for a bit inside before heading over to the second room with one of us eventually finding the light switch. Realising that the white glow of the lamps would be visible, it was only a short excursion into the control rooms.
From this point the thought of the workers within faded and we pushed close towards them into the washrooms, allowing some of us to clean the excessive coal dust from ourselves, before making a swift retirement from that area.
From this point we knew that the boiler house was the next port of call with the roof being the ultimate destination.
Heading through the turbine hall again, having given up caring about the presence of workers at this point, we headed to the ground floor before working back up.
The sun was now rising and we were tired, hungry and in need of a rest.
This point of the visit was memorable with the sunrise being an amazing end to a humorous night.
And with that, we needed to leave. Which was amusing.....
That'll be all.
KP_
