Been a while coming for me, we had a couple of cracks when we explored the rest of the Celanese site back in 2014. Both times we barely made it inside before the alarms were sounding and after that i decided i'd rather wait until the work was a little further along and the alarms would be potentially switched off than keep wasting my time getting to see very little. I didn't really anticipate the place would still being standing over two years later but that is definitely the case. Several other groups have made thier respective trips in my absence and they have gradually built up a picture of what it looked like inside so that took the pressure off a return. Recently Dempsey came up for the weekend to take a look at some other midlands based turbines and he had a little insider knowledge that suggested demolition of the station is now only weeks away. We decided it was well worth an afternoon of our time to check out if that was indeed true.
External from our 2014 Visit
After taking a rather tortuous and probably unnecessary route onto site we could see the station appeared to still be intact. Some new heras fencing had been erected and there were signs that asbestos stripping had started on a external part of the site. Other than that it appeared much the same as before. We tried our old access point only to find it sealed up, circled the building several times and in the end ended up taking totally different way in that saw us discover something neither of us had really expected. The far end of the substation block contained a cracking set of locker rooms complete with old skool colliery lockers and tiled shower partitions. Not turbines but a good sign we might be onto something more than a touristy recap of previous peoples efforts.
Moving on from the lockers we headed through into the substation area. Eyes were open for the obvious PIRs and it wasn't long before we found one and tripped it.. No alarm tho, well not a new alarm anyway. I dont think ive been in many places that beep as much as here, i believe they are all fire and process related rather than intruder at this point however.
We popped into a room with some nice panels, tripped another PIR but still nothing. From here on we decided it was more or less a case of 'go for it' it appeared that the alarm system is zoned and the zone that we were in was not armed allowing us to see control room and the various substation rooms (that weren't locked tight) in relative comfort.
After the control room we realised light was fading fast, heading through to the turbines we again started avoiding the sensors. About 10mins elapsed before we heard voices outside.. Time to leave! It turned out to be a security guy in the Derwent station compound on his phone. Was he for us? Im not sure but he didnt see us leave and he alarm wasn't sounding. Probably just a coincidence i guess. Is it still alarmed? I can't say 100% but it certainly appeared to be less looked after than previously. Maybe you guys might want a revisit? I certainly could do with one for the boiler house..
External from our 2014 Visit
After taking a rather tortuous and probably unnecessary route onto site we could see the station appeared to still be intact. Some new heras fencing had been erected and there were signs that asbestos stripping had started on a external part of the site. Other than that it appeared much the same as before. We tried our old access point only to find it sealed up, circled the building several times and in the end ended up taking totally different way in that saw us discover something neither of us had really expected. The far end of the substation block contained a cracking set of locker rooms complete with old skool colliery lockers and tiled shower partitions. Not turbines but a good sign we might be onto something more than a touristy recap of previous peoples efforts.
Moving on from the lockers we headed through into the substation area. Eyes were open for the obvious PIRs and it wasn't long before we found one and tripped it.. No alarm tho, well not a new alarm anyway. I dont think ive been in many places that beep as much as here, i believe they are all fire and process related rather than intruder at this point however.
We popped into a room with some nice panels, tripped another PIR but still nothing. From here on we decided it was more or less a case of 'go for it' it appeared that the alarm system is zoned and the zone that we were in was not armed allowing us to see control room and the various substation rooms (that weren't locked tight) in relative comfort.
After the control room we realised light was fading fast, heading through to the turbines we again started avoiding the sensors. About 10mins elapsed before we heard voices outside.. Time to leave! It turned out to be a security guy in the Derwent station compound on his phone. Was he for us? Im not sure but he didnt see us leave and he alarm wasn't sounding. Probably just a coincidence i guess. Is it still alarmed? I can't say 100% but it certainly appeared to be less looked after than previously. Maybe you guys might want a revisit? I certainly could do with one for the boiler house..
However if anyone wants to avoid summer vegitation there is only one other route that will get you in with no variables but you'll need a boat. 
