Last days of Hull’s massive power station and what is there now

The 300ft Sculcoates power station cooling tower was reduced to rubble in 1979

The date was Wednesday, October 31, 1979. The time, 7.30am. At that precise moment 75-year-old grandmother Chrissie Kenworthy turned a key and brought to an end a Hull landmark which had stood dominant for 40 years.

In a massive explosion, the 300ft Sculcoates power station cooling tower was reduced to rubble, watched by hundreds of local people who gathered in the official viewing area in Ryde Street, climbed walls and peered through fences. Mrs Kenworthy took over the job of blowing up the tower from her niece, Alexandra, who won a charity competition for the honour but was said to be too young to do the job.

Mrs Kenworthy was taken to a sealed-off blasting area in the shadow of the tower, which demolition experts had packed with 42lb of explosive. After a series of warning sirens she turned the key to fire the detonator. There was a pause after the first blast. A second followed and the tower tumbled to the floor billowing out clouds of dust.

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The power staton dated back to 1898, when less than 1,000 consumers were paying for electricity. For the next 81 years the site played an essential role in the city’s life, undergoing massive change in those years.

It was extended 10 times in the 20th century, but by the 1970s the station became a victim of changing times and the Central Electricity Generating Board deciding it was one of 28 across the country that should be closed. At that time, the station employed 104 people and produced 57 megawatts of electricity – a small amount compared with the 2,000-megawatt production of the bigger power stations in the 70s.

For local people it was a welcome decision, for they had long complained about pollution from the coal-fired power station, the 300ft tower of which dominated the landscape. Parents also complained about its effect on the Barmston Drain – at one point a warm stream from a cooling tower ran into it, making it an attractive, but dangerous wild swimming pool for children.

After demolition, the site remained derelect for decades, before in 2003 work began on a new £20m housing estate called "Urban Sensation", which also utilised the site of the former Needlers sweet factory. In all, 170 homes were built off Sculcoates Lane. Visit our history section for more articles like this one.

Building the cooling tower in 1946.

Workers with the Union Jack which was hoisted to mark completion of the cooling tower at the Sculcoates power station in December 1946.

In the background, framed by the Clough Road bridge, the tower of the Sculcoates power station stands starkly against the skyline. This was how the area looked in June 1964.

The power station dominated the Sculcoates area until 1979.

A stream of warm water from the power station made Barmston Drain an attractive wild swimming pool for children, much to the horror of parents.

A picket line during a strike by miners in February 1974.

Miners on strike in January 1972.

In the distance is the cooling tower for Hull's own power station at Sculcoates. A rare colour shot from the 1970s.

A dramatic picture of the power station.

The end: the cooling tower is demolished in October 1979.

The cooling tower is reduced to rubbish.

By July 1994, the land at the Sculcoates power station was being prepared for redevelopment.

The overgrown remnants of the site in the late 1990s.

In the early noughties, the Urban Sensation housing development was built on the site of the power station and the old Needlers Factory.