I had a visit here last year after seeing some friends pics. It took a couple of attempts. The first involved a savage hangover after my brother in law's 40th birthday and within minutes I had 2 hi-viz heading towards me. The next day I returned while it was still dark. Being a Monday, I knew more staff would be about and I didn't know what time they started clocking in at. I got inside and waited for it to get light. Eventually I could hear activity around the place and a constant clanging sound that took me bloody ages to figure out - they were putting up scaffolding at the far end of the turbine hall. By this point I'd had a wander about so started shooting. Unfortunately my visit was cut short but I will get to that bit with the last pic.
History, copied and pasted of course:
Tullis Russell produced paper and board for use in cards, covers and premium packaging. The Markinch Power Station was built to provide electricity and steam to the paper mill. Construction began in 1912 and was completed in 1914.
Originally consisting of a single Parsons turbine and generator unit, the power station was enlarged in 1921 to add another two units. The ability to co-fire oil along with coal was also introduced at the same time. The powerhouse was then expanded once again and a fourth, larger Parsons turbine was added.
In 1979 David Russell expressed his concerns about energy shortages and suggests that Tullis Russell must save coal. He devised a method of continuous working to avoid closing down at weekends which saved 70 tonnes of coal. He also started looking for an alternative to burning oil.
In 1999 one of the boilers was converted to run on gas, but it was realised that cleaner and cheaper energy was still required. In 2012 RWE invested in the Glenrothes site to build a biomass power station to replace the ageing coal plant. The new plant provided both steam and power to Tullis Russell, and made the old plant obsolete.
I sat and chilled in this room for over an hour waiting for just enough light to autofocus.
It was still pretty dark in the combustion boiler section so I made my way to the turbine hall
In this pic, where the natural light is coming in at the end of the hall, I could see the blokes doing the scaffolding. There was the odd flash of yellow from their hi-viz as they moved past the fans.
Within a second of me pressing the shutter button one of the guys stopped and said in an accent that is as Fife as you like "Here, I think someone is in there!" The LED flashing for the two second timer must've caught his attention. It was too dark to shoot the combustion boilers when I arrived and I sure as fuck wasn't hanging around, so I disappeared.
Thanks for looking!
History, copied and pasted of course:
Tullis Russell produced paper and board for use in cards, covers and premium packaging. The Markinch Power Station was built to provide electricity and steam to the paper mill. Construction began in 1912 and was completed in 1914.
Originally consisting of a single Parsons turbine and generator unit, the power station was enlarged in 1921 to add another two units. The ability to co-fire oil along with coal was also introduced at the same time. The powerhouse was then expanded once again and a fourth, larger Parsons turbine was added.
In 1979 David Russell expressed his concerns about energy shortages and suggests that Tullis Russell must save coal. He devised a method of continuous working to avoid closing down at weekends which saved 70 tonnes of coal. He also started looking for an alternative to burning oil.
In 1999 one of the boilers was converted to run on gas, but it was realised that cleaner and cheaper energy was still required. In 2012 RWE invested in the Glenrothes site to build a biomass power station to replace the ageing coal plant. The new plant provided both steam and power to Tullis Russell, and made the old plant obsolete.
I sat and chilled in this room for over an hour waiting for just enough light to autofocus.
It was still pretty dark in the combustion boiler section so I made my way to the turbine hall
In this pic, where the natural light is coming in at the end of the hall, I could see the blokes doing the scaffolding. There was the odd flash of yellow from their hi-viz as they moved past the fans.
Within a second of me pressing the shutter button one of the guys stopped and said in an accent that is as Fife as you like "Here, I think someone is in there!" The LED flashing for the two second timer must've caught his attention. It was too dark to shoot the combustion boilers when I arrived and I sure as fuck wasn't hanging around, so I disappeared.
Thanks for looking!
