Joule in the Crown - Battersea Power Station with Sir Tony Robinson

Take a walk with Sir Tony Robinson for an exclusive sneak preview inside Battersea Power Station - one of the country’s most iconic landmarks!
On this tour, we explore some of the most historically significant parts of the power station including both of the fascinating control rooms and the stunning director’s entrance; all of which were empathetically restored by a heritage team from Lucas.
We are hugely excited as we approach the official opening of the power station to the public on 14th October 2022.

[@garysmith5641]

I tiled the Turbine hall floor with industrial bricks , the shape of the original turbines , every day i loved it loved the history and love the fact i did most of it on my own my work at 10,03

[@garysmith5641]

@@smokeandrubber you probably did , I want to know where the film is for the camera that took a picture every 30 seconds , that has to be a good stop motion to watch

[@aalexjohna]

@@smokeandrubber That's dirty.

[@rodpettet2819]

In the early 1950s I recall my mother bawling her eyes out after dusting our Battersea Park Road flat, that despite the windows being shut, coal dust covered every surface. Itvwas a very polluting power station. In fact the doctors told my parents they should move away as I wasn't thriving. We moved to Bromley then Deal in Kent. Clean, if bracing air. She would have loved the development and shops, but passed away in 1997.

[@paulusthegrey]

I toured the station as part of a school sixth form field trip in 1975 when the place was still running. They've done a fantastic job on Control Room A. I was fascinated by the huge dials.

[@jwelman1]

I started my Electrical Utility career in Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town's original power stations and substations were all based on the British stations. I recognise alot of the design and styles of Battersea. Its sureal to see the similarities. I spent my career upgrading and replacing these old systems. Such a control room will easilly be replaced with just a handfull of panels and a few Computers these days. Allthough imensely more powerfull and functional, it lacks the quality feel and heft of those old panels. These days those stations will not be manned and when I worked there on faults in the middel of the night, it always had this strange and spooky feel. It always felt like I would bump into the ghost of an old operator in those dark narrow passage ways. Great work to all that took the time and effort to restore such an industrial piece of art. #chefskiss ❤

[@robertmailhos8159]

I'm glad to see Battersea power station has been made to look like it was back in the day

[@Sohave]

Imagine making power stations with that kind of attention to beauty and detail in today's world. Everything made today got a sense of decaying late stage civilization.

[@allenshepard7992]

Bucket list item. The first synchroscope has "Fast" on the left side which I thought was a British thing. But in hall B the Synchroscope has Past on the right side like here in America, the kind I've used. Soo good to see the original "Bakelite" covers and parts. They really did a great job restoring the hall. Hopefully there are tours of the place.

[@tracegomez]

It brought electricity to London, It graced a Pink Floyd album cover, It now is immortalized as the first Grade II listing on acid. Drop dead gorgeous in detail and historic preservation with a brilliant repurpose.

[@rexthewarhorse7110]

I'm so happy it was saved. When I first learned about Battersea power station many years ago I was sad to see the state it was in after a bunch of development plans gone wrong. But now it's looking beautiful

[@jamieknight326]

This is fab. It’s the perfect topic for Tony’s entertaining, informative and educational presenting style.

[@rey3761]

What an incredible video and an incredible chap presenting all the details. I feel even more proud of my Battersea neighbourhood :-)

[@johnrauner2515]

Would have been better if he'd asked the restoration guy how many rat-o-vans they found the remains of in the cabinets? Or how he takes his coffee, white, sugar? Sugar could be a problem, he doesn't quite have the acreage to find it that he once had.

[@frederickranger2340]

Well done gentlemen. Am very happy to know that it was restored. I hope one day I get to see it with my own eyes.

[@joe-vl3nd]

Passed it many times . Brilliant building 👍🇬🇧

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

that is cool as heck. I tell people all the time if i go to London i have to go to Battersea Park and no one knows what I am talking about. So i tell them it's a power station and after that they probably think I'm crazy to want to see a power station, but to me it is one of the coolest buildings I have ever seen! They made a mistake by blocking the station with those new buildings!!!

[@michaelcherry8952]

I'm amazed at the work they have done with Control Room A, but I wish they had included the engine telegraphs that they used to communicate with the engineers in the boiler house and turbine hall. I've seen photos of power station staff standing ready at the telegraphs preparing to let the rest of the staff know what needed to be done. I imagine these were replaced with a different sort of communication system over the lifetime of the station, but I love the idea of swinging the lever to "Full Speed" and hearing the turbines spool up in the turbine hall.

[@mfbfreak]

The turbines always run at a precise RPM dictated by the 50Hz frequency of the grid (that's what the synchroscope is about). You would hear an increase in the the magnetic whine of the generator coils, the 50hz buzz and perhaps the rush of steam, but the turbine speed remains the same. It's not like the turbo of a diesel generator that suddenly picks up when switching on a load.

[@gilzor9376]

Impressive structure . . . . necessary at the time, but consider the massiveness of the space required to distribute the amount of power that today probably occupies the space of a broom closet. It is always a good thing to see important historical landmarks preserved and made available for future generations to understand their heritage. One can only hope the commercial side experiences the success necessary to perpetuate this experience for years to come. Great job!

[@paulkandi]

Amazing restoration, my dad visited this station while at school, when it was working … It’s a pity so many other closed power stations are now gone, surely just one modern mega power station has to be preserved for future generations, West Burton or Drax could be used for this purpose, they may be modern now but in 30 years time …???

[@stephenbudd3771]

Wow…. Can’t wait to see that !

[@sebastianhall6554]

Wow ❤

[@djscottdog1]

Interestingly the biggest serge in power tends to be when everyone gets a shower, before or after work. The water pumps that keep the line pressure all kick in. Also the generators slightly lead the grid wave so that its generating or pulling the grid rather than being a giant motor.

[@iaindouglas6861]

Well done. Great preservation.

[@alanblyde8502]

Luv ya work Tony 👌🇦🇺

[@darylcheshire1618]

In Victoria in the 1960s it was looking to be a quiet Sunday afternoon at one of the State Electricity Commission’s power stations. However an old favourite movie was showing on the TV and everyone turned on their TVs and there was this sudden demand and everyone had to scramble. I dimly recall it might have been a repeat of “The Ghost and Mrs Muir”. After that day the SEC would look at forthoming events and plan for them. Around that time Melbourne was notoriosly boring with everything being closed on Sunday and all you can do is watch TV.

[@JohnVance]

It's not Time Team, but it's still delightful!

[@vqey2]

WoW just WoW

[@stevenormandin2059]

WOW !

[@FireballXL55]

Dam I have walked around the shopping mall but I did not know this was open to the public.

[@richardlister3906]

Just one big ad for Lucas😮

[@Danger_mouse]

1:53 LUCAS Q. Why do Poms drink warm beer? A. Because Lucas make the fridges 😁🍺

[@Theworldasitistoday]

Is it possible to visit this place?

[@mattd7135]

how it operated would be cool

[@shaun5552]

In layman's terms terms the basic steps of the process were as follows: 1. Coal burned to produce heat. Coal was the main fuel used but oil was also used as a supplementary fuel. 2. Heat boils water to produce steam. Note that the steam temperature is well above boiling point, hundreds of degrees C, so a lot hotter than steam coming from your kettle etc. At this point the steam is under high pressure. 3. Steam passes through the turbines to create mechanical power. This is done in multiple steps all mechanically connected - a high pressure stage, then through lower pressure stages using the same steam in order to maximise the energy extracted from it. 4. Turbine turns the alternator via mechanical connection, a shaft between the two. This is the step that creates the electricity. 5. From there it's a case of distributing that electricity via distribution lines across London. Plus all the supporting systems. Eg cranes to unload coal upon delivery, conveyor belts to move the delivered coal to storage then again from storage to the boilers, also moving and disposing of the ash produced, plus pumps for water and oil, numerous valves and gauges to control and monitor everything, etc. In terms of its ability to generate electricity, the first stage of construction involved in stalling two 69 MW (megawatt) alternators and one 105 MW alternator plus all supporting turbines, boilers etc. The second stage involved two 100 MW and one 72 MW alternator. Combined, this gave the power station a capacity of 515 MW. For clarity that's 515,000,000 Watts. By modern standards that's small to medium sized but it was a huge scale at the time of its construction. By comparison the Hinkley Point C nuclear station under construction involves two separate generating units of 1600 MW each, 3200 MW in total, so is about six times the size of Battersea in terms of its electrical output. Battersea was huge for its time however.

[@Andrew-rc3vh]

@@shaun5552 Hinkley holds the world record for the largest dome. It appears we Brits are still doing huge for our time.

[@lrochfort]

Why is it an event space, not a museum or heritage building open to the public?

[@funny2thag]

It looks like a scene from classic Doctor Who

[@21stcenturyozman20]

Odd coincidence having a former power station restored by a company called Lucas. Surely no relation to that infamous Lucas Prince of Darkness?

[@mfbfreak]

Absolutely beautiful. Perhaps hide some 50Hz buzz generators in the panels? Now hook it up to a simulation computer so you can 'drive' a coal power plant!

[@susansullivan9255]

It's a shame they couldn't do that with ferry bridge station...which started generating electricity in the 1920s i believe..

[@hypercomms2001]

You see the original control room in "The Meaning Of Life"...

[@tomoliva9394]

Ah... yesteryear, when night time light switches worked as advertised

[@harbourdogNL]

When architects and artists worked together. Nowadays its mostly imagination-free aesthetically challenged engineers cobbling together visual atrocities that the rest of us have to live with.

[@petercrossley1069]

He should do his research. It’s not a “power surge”. It’s a “demand surge” which requires more power.

[@harbourdogNL]

" “demand surge” which requires more power." So, a surge in power then. Thanks for clearing that up.

[@RailPreserver2K]

Is it bad that i wish theyd kept the turbines

[@Phuc_Yhou]

Tony's 8 months pregnant and still managed all that walking about.

[@harbourdogNL]

lmao

[@Ivorbiggin]

Why are you so Rude ?

[@rob1248996]

I wanted to see the pig.

[@neatodd]

Just because you can add music to a video it doesn't mean that you should.

[@lbochtler]

So, battersae has now been destroyed by "realestate developers" Batersea deserved better, it should have been a museum of power generation, not some shoping center. RIP battersea

[@Rutherford_Inchworm_III]

They should have spent the money on teaching people like you how to spell properly.

[@StubbyPhillips]

Oh wow! How did this get past the boring "money people" with zero imagination who only want to tear such places down to make a quick buck on the land?

[@telboyjack100]

Is that Touché Turtle?