Exploring the Abandoned Fawley Power Station - Rare Control Room

[@Urbandoned]

Streaming again tomorrow evening talking about this one! Be sure to not miss out 😁

[@ronarmes5813]

The original Control Room on the Redcar Blast Furnace was very similar to this one in 1979

[@projects6371]

Such a top video! What is the this amazing music called at 6:40 of the control room?

[@chrisgosling5408]

I worked here for 13 Years mainly CEGB and the walkaround brought back memories. All the jobs in the control room as an Instrument mechanic and the computer room which also housed the EBC (Electronic Boiler Control system) with regular tweaking and setting of the superheater spray valves for temperature control of the steam. A mine field of an alarm system by Reyrolle. All the instruments were built in imperial apart from two L&N recorders per unit that had ANC and two later Japanese recorders that only had one moving part which always went wrong. Did an install of RPM indicators for the mains units which is all that is new as a maority of the work was fault find and preventative maintenance. the unit layout did have issues as sveral operations required one unit operator to be at both ends of the panel at the same time. I had limited experince here and only managed to get one startup on the desk with the perfect gentleman Mr Steve Wade! If it had still been the CEGB I would still be working there, a great place staffed by a broad range of individuals with an even wider set of skills an interests. As for the control room building there was the main control room level with the computer room as shown. in the roofspace were air handling units (AHU). under the control room accessed via the spiral staircase was the cable marshalling runs leading out to the main plant and some more air handling equipment and the elevated cable run out to the main plant. Signal wires in grey and power cables in black. Next level down was managers and engineers offices on the periphery and in the centre where two almond shaped meeting rooms and one did have a fitted table. Next level or ground floor was lab space and admin offices again around the peripehery so looking out of the building. there was the library were the morning meeting were held which is shown in the video. I struggle to recollect what was in the centre on the ground floor??. in the basement was more airhandling equipment and the air conditioning units with a ramp leading out into the car park. The canteen was bolted on and was a collection of three triangle when viewed from above. Lots of concrete and solid wood doors and in the garden adjacent the control room was a sundial in concrete with the "pointer" beinga steam turbine blade which I believe was installed at the request of Mr. Wilf Wirght the first station superintendant.

[@BestUserNameUK]

The CEGB was a great employer. I was MMD at a power station in the North Western Region👍🏼

[@chrisgosling5408]

@@BestUserNameUK I think if it was still Nationalised I would still be there, It was an impressive organisation. the UK's very own engine room!

[@gedhicks2855]

Hi Chris, I dont know if you remember me as a mechanical appretice back in 1981. I don't know what the other Instrument appentices (Tom, Paul and the other Chris) went on to do. At the end in 2013 just me Kevin and Stuart were still working at Fawley. A few weeks ago the control room and canteen was all that was left of the power station. As I drove by earlier today demolition of the control room is well underway and it looks a sorry state. People used to say it was a listed building but obviously not.

[@chrisgosling5408]

@@gedhicks2855 It is sad to see it being demolished having served the nation so well. I remember you playing Black Sabbath on Albert Kinseys acoustic guitar while at SETA. An the legendary story of what you used for the O seals on an ITM motorcycle. The tales from East Boldre and Hatchets Pond. Also getting me in to trouble with Kevin and the roughly applied swarfega, before eyebows are rasied this has a purple Ford Cortina connection. Stuart features in some of the photos of FPS. I bailed out of the power industry in 1998 as it was going in a direction I didn't much fancy. I remeber the Hovercraft we built at SETA under the watchful eye of Phil "Near as Dammit" Boutemy. Harry from the stores at SETA and FPS. Sadly many have passed on now but we are able to reflect on better days.

[@FlaRez69]

Crazy that I've driven past this hundreds of times and never knew it was there until now

[@flexifourplumbs3446]

I remember going on a student visit there in the early 90s, and marvelling at the turbine hall as well as the control rooom building. Also went to the Austin-Rover plant in Cowley. Both of which are now history.

[@Fran_SG]

I have no words…. Nowadays nobody makes places like this: functional but cool. Thanks!!!

[@grahamhiggins1]

This should be preserved for the nation. These places will be lost forever. Thanks so much for giving an insight into something I’ve never seen before. Amazing😮

[@dominatorkirst8135]

Fab! Thanks for recording this 🤩

[@robfellows4096]

Incredible control room! The saucer exterior looks like model work from an old Thunderbirds episode - and the inside could fit happily into a Gerry Anderson live action show like UFO or Space 1999 - so 1970s. Immaculate condition - good security I guess. In the old pics it looks like the whole ceiling was illuminated - had it been replaced at one stage by solid panels? Great job preserving footage of this.

[@garymillerlcs]

Brilliant, that even surpasses the previous video! Thanks so much for sharing that with everyone. Back in the 1960s Britain was still able to build impressive and functional infrastructure. Those days have unfortunately long long gone! Very sad really.

[@simonbondsfield4249]

Wonderful video. Thanks for sharing this 👍

[@jimmymiller77]

The very BEST power station video Ever. Thanks so much guys, Great Job.... Jim

[@neilstrains]

Absolutely incredible video thanks. I've seen this tower from I think when we go to Beaulieu and my daughters football matches. Thanks for taking us inside!

[@josephlwallssr6166]

Gosh, I lived across, the Solent from Foley Refinery in the early 70, s. as a youngster.I always wondered about the Refinery. There were always, huge oil tankers that would,come and go after discharging their oil cargo.I always remember the blinking tower.Thanks for sharing!😀👌I had a friend who, s father worked there in a laboratory. Save, the earth! Lol!🤔

[@Piffy]

This is amazing! I used to live in Fawley right by the refinery/power station. My dad was a Firefighter in the area and used to talk about drills they were involved in at Fawley

[@williamdrabble8781]

I visited the site a few years ago as part of an architectural preservation society. The problem with the control room block is it's such a specifically designed building. Repurposing would be really hard and expensive. It also has terrible insulation. This wasn't a problem when the power station was running because they had an abundance of excess heat they could pipe over to warm it up. It's a big shame its going though

[@stepheneyles2198]

Thanks for the explanation! I was thinking that the building would make a super hotel/conference suite, but the costs involved must have been astronomical...

[@christophermoore5405]

Absolutely blown away. Brilliant film

[@mrgrizzlyrides]

That was just awesome. Great work guys👍

[@wes5150.]

Absolutely SHOCKING ! Thanks for the video

[@lizstevenson7801]

Again you did a brilliant job if documenting history, well done lads. So sad that this building has been demolished as it was worth keeping but housing seems to be needed more. Thank you so much 💕🇦🇺

[@aaaaaaaaaaaa_99]

The round building hasn’t gone as of yet! Just all of other ones and the chimney!

[@charleswiltshire]

I visited as a child in the 80's and distinctly remember touring the turbine hall when it was running and it was absolutely deafening! I recall putting my fingers in my ears which of course made no difference. I also recall the control room and general feel of the place. Thanks for documenting - it brought back memories and it's sad to see it go but we can't be too sentimental about a fossil-fuel power plant.

[@bobbythomas200420032]

That was an excellent video and what a great looking and amazing power station.I really enjoyed seeing the main control room and the switches room. Thank you for making this video and the commentry was excellent.

[@john_smith1471]

Amazing 60s architecture and mid century interior design, reminds me of the look some schools and colleges had from the same era, shiny floors and wood cladding, the meeting rooms had interesting light fittings and concealed ambient down-lighting, advanced for the time, built with a good budget allowed. Shame the control and conference rooms couldn't be preserved as a living museum to our industrial heritage, technology and design.

[@deniseshephard3347]

Absolutely stunning your videos are always moving this beautiful building should of been preserved your photos are stunning and are a credit to your hard work and effort

[@DEAD-DROP]

This place looks like a spaceship inside and out! Incredible location and a really interesting explore! Such a shame we'll never see structures like this again. All new builds are cheap and utilitarian... Really great documentation once again guys!

[@serenityinside1]

Thank you lads , great job 👏. Never heard of this place . Indeed had a beauty- very sad it’s gone ☹️.

[@glenjarnold]

I worked in ops at a couple of power stations, all this looks so familiar!

[@Ganiscol]

That is (was) a humongous control room! Never seen anything of this proportions. And its gone... Thanks for recording and sharing it!

[@JohnnyWaterbucket]

I've had the privilege of being able to go to quite a lot of these places over the years. This type of control room was typical of the CEGB in the 60s, always trying new things. There have been a few things taken out since it was built, like the original ceiling lights, but the original Synchroscopes are still there though. I'm guessing spiral staircase went down to the cable galleries below the panels two of which seem to be still in place. Originally, Ill bet that conference room had a huge table and matching chairs made just for there.

[@the_fearless_explorer1213]

Excellent explore guys love it what a amazing place id love to explore this place..

[@skankinmike]

Well done for preserving the building in film! Really good watch.

[@franciscoderfler4966]

The building you have visited is a clear example of so-called 'brutalist architecture', widely developed in the UK from the 1950s to almost the 1970s. Even though this style is being critically questioned, and many of its buildings have been unjustly demolished, it does not fail to impress how this architecture enhances the nobility and purity of the materials and techniques that make up the building. Even so, the silence of the place, the chiaroscuro, the climate and everything captured by you in the respectful and pleasant story, gives that sleeping giant a melancholy existence. I congratulate you for your work, greeting you from Argentina.

[@deltayankie]

Thanks for sharing really interesting , my late father in law worked there in the seventies, as an engineer he often talked about Fawley and Portsmouth and Poole power stations, before moving to Hong Kong (Tsing Yi) and ultimately New Zealand (Huntly) I had no idea about unusual control room building.

[@nataliesmith303]

Such a great find, thanks for sharing 😊

[@chaddamp2894]

Thankyou,it means so much to see your work..I was able to visit many power stations during my employment,I'm retired now ....sadly I was witnessing the undoing of our great heavy engineering which included steel ,quarry,foundry coke manufacturing ,coal mining and laterly clothing,hosery,wall coverings etc etc thankyou

[@derrenleepoole]

Superb explore lads. Smashed it.

[@-r-495]

Happy to be supporting your effort. Wow.

[@JPTech933]

They should turn the entire building into a museum, such interesting architecture.

[@peterking2794]

I worked at Ince 'B' power station near Chester back in the 80s as an Assistant Unit Operator. I operated panels just like those and it brought back many memories, both good and not so great. Thanks for the vid!

[@Basstrucker2013]

Brilliant video, visited this site in 2007 nice to see it again to jog the memory

[@petedrake1]

I was lucky enough to be able to explore Fawley Power Station when it was in operation around 98-99. Amazing place, got to see all levels of the generating room and even had the chance to venture to the roof, only to see the massive chimney towering above. I tried for years to take the lift to the top of the chimney but was always met with no because of this and that. Great video by the way.

[@Richard-pe4cx]

thank you for recording this for history

[@mgpprev5450]

10/10. Great filming And interesting content

[@neilwelch7273]

Thank you. Think I went and saw Santa in that control room. Sounds odd but my dad was a planning engineer / draughtsman during the building of Fawley. They had a Christmas party for the staff. Good old days when companies treated employees like humans not resources. Those drawings at the end could well of been drawn by my dad. Great video , so sad that people can’t be allowed in to make more in depth accounts of these places. I myself worked in various power stations as a fitter and later an operator, they were awesome places especially the older ones. Great memories of a better time.

[@alancameron9593]

Excellent video as always very enjoyable to watch

[@nat926]

I really enjoyed watching this, thank you

[@focus3415]

Boys another great explore I lived in Southampton and used to see this place every time I went on the ferry to the Isle of Wight

[@residentelect]

Forley is a movie star in its own right, having been used as a filming location on Rollerball, Red Dwarf, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Mission Impossible Rogue Nation and many others. The architecture lends itself perfectly for Sci-Fi and action movies.

[@xtys9606]

Amazing content boys, what a video! 👍

[@ylwen1525]

I love the architecture at this place!

[@BalearicBeatnik]

They used to do open days to the public and my parents took us to there when we were little. The UFO building was awesome. They gave out goodie packs with stickers and stuff. Prob one of my fave memories as a kid.

[@michailokeefeMooMoo]

Great video guys I thought that building looked like a flying saucer

[@nickt5361]

Great explore & video guys - I do love a power station .

[@peterallen7938]

Thanks, guys have a great video👍

[@ylwen1525]

The controlroom is amazing !!!

[@stuartwright4670]

Guys you’re amazing. Love all your videos and very jealous you get to go to all these great places. You’re doing a great service. Keep safe though

[@lindsay96]

Would love to see you visit Longannet in Fife if you were able to!

[@dgattenb]

they should preserve and keep that for tours etc .. its the chimney i saw from Portsmouth for years .... will miss it

[@benlambley6423]

Absolutely amazing these places blow my mind i think it really should be saved its a piece of history once its gone thats it.

[@simonwhiting4571]

Awesome stuff lads👌👌👌

[@OLIFAB]

Brilliant video as always!! 😁

[@JonWhitton]

Awesome old control room. The flying saucer building should be kept with its control room

[@ladahs]

I didn't expect to become sad after watching this. So unique place was destroyed.

[@08nickles07]

Wow I used to live quite near to this in the late 1990s. I didn't know it had been demolished

[@bluebellModelrailway]

Being local ish... they are building a housing estate down there, as theres debate to reopen the railway from Southampton to Fawley. Great explore, a lot of 60's 70s architecture quite amazing.

[@julietsierrayankee2498]

The conferance rooms are still in use, rarely but I have seen footage in these rooms of meetings in recent years. Also a few TV shows have used some of the rooms for filming. Including Channel 4 with a Spy show

[@FAKUZONE]

They should have kept this building as a filming location for period movies, sad to see this kind of architecture going away, what a waste.

[@dreammix9430]

That entire building should have been moved to some place and preserved in its entirety with everything in place. The building is a museum in itself

[@felixthecleaner8843]

One word - 'Awesome'.

[@andyarmstrong1493]

Great detail, superb find. Who pays for the 24/7 lights on? Looks like the workers only left yesterday.The power room you were in sounded like 440 volts. Someone needs to switch this place off, must cost a fortune to run and why?

[@ukwaffles4500]

This is really odd for me to watch, as I did my work experance there before it was decomissioned. Worked in most of the areas of the plant, though mainly did bits in the turbine hall. Remember having coffee after working in that control room and its other rooms. Kinda sad to see most of it gone now, as went up the stack as well. Lot of old oil all over the place down in the depths where it would have been sprayed in to burn.

[@chrisdoney8578]

Awesome vid and a tribute to the old CEGB and a more 'invested' forward thinking approach to power generation. Shame it seems to be patch it up and fire fighting tactics with regards to keeping the grid sufficiently energised these days. The next couple of Winters will be interesting 🤔 Thanks Guys.

[@marktownsend9333]

It’s modern history and saving 📦✅

[@BeyondthePoint]

Nice stuff! Shame they covered that illuminated ceiling over

[@59patrickw]

The room with the overhead projector (old school) and a morning of death by view graph people of a old age will understand you younger people are so lucky not to have gone through this

[@alsanova]

This control room was featured in one scene of tv comedy The Green Wing.

[@wimalasenawijethunga1668]

thanks 👍👍👍

[@tomstickland]

Quality video again.

[@venkshenoi371]

Fawley Oil fired station was little used as it was oil fired. Most plant was as new when it was demolished.

[@reckz420]

Not abandoned in true sense. It's been maintained regularly, has power, being guarded etc. but still a valuable piece of history

[@TheCrazzyToobinator]

That building and control room should just be turned into a museum itself! It could probably even be rented as a movie set once in a while with parts of it renovated as an office space. Honestly we need to stop destroying places like this where the building is both historical and could be repurposed! It must just always come down to a money thing, the property is too valuable for the building and so let's build something new that can feed the tax hungry. The saddest part for me is knowing that all those perfect looking meters are probably just going to be destroyed when they are actually valuable to people who can appreciate or repurpose those sorts of things because they are unique and hard to come by (Individually they make for really neat display pieces on a shelf). On the bright side I guess at least this place has been documented by you guys!

[@markrgreenlane]

I’ve got a feeling that this control room was used in an episode of Endeavour where it was used as a nuclear power station, think it was S4:E4 as I recognise the top of the spiral staircase in the middle of the room.

[@daffyduk77]

Wow, impressive control room shots, must have felt like you were almost master of the universe working in there, able to turn millions of peoples' lives on or off in a sense. In some respects Eggborough control room was better for its sheer size/cavernous aspect

[@frasermathers2287]

Awesome video as always lads. What a pity that more buildings like this cannot be repurposed rather than erased. The control room was amazing and when you were showing the blue prints and it came up as 1962 I was thinking, I was only two years old when they built the station, and I hope my time is not up at 62 🙂. Thanks as always lads.

[@tamarahenderson5241]

Love

[@keithglaysher9201]

I can't help thinking that this shutdown along with many others is one huge mistake.

[@kpurban1310]

Such a last minute thing that was. No idea how we put it together.

[@Antony_Jenner]

Looks like they have had tours not so long ago!

[@iannumanfanwright1743]

Just hope this control room is saved somewhere and not in a landfill or breakers yard

[@hdns6678]

Both Hincley point a and b are both abandoned with the construction of Hincley point c.

[@m4xww]

This should be listed

[@AdrianAnton84]

👍👍👍

[@majikglustik9704]

2001: a power Odyssey "rotate the pod, hal..."

[@arcadeuk]

All these "abandoned" huge power stations, and right now our government are telling us we are going to have rolling blackouts this winter, because of the crisis that THEY CREATED 😡😡

[@dddtheman1441]

The chimney got blown up last year

[@gigifaitsatele]

Now demolished 😢

[@MrChinful]

Been demolished now 😦

[@albertlopez6620]

Con musica de jean michele jarre o kramwet quedan bien bien

[@fedupdomer5654]

its a shame facilities like this cant be retrofitted with fuel cells or other cutting edge generation equipment. the place is mint condition and they are already tied into the grid

[@JL_modding_7930]

My dad is now at this instant is there he said to search it up it’s still here he is leavaling it out and it’s still there now it will be houses one day

[@kangirigungi]

Too bad it's being demolished. It should have been turned into a museum.