Richborough power station was a power station close to the mouth of the River Stour near Sandwich, on the east coast of Kent. It operated from 1962 to 1996; the towers were demolished in 2012. It was built on land within the Port of Richborough but being on the northern edge its site lies mostly within the neighbouring parish of Minster, Kent.
The Central Electricity Generating Board started construction of the power station in 1958, with Unit 1 coming online in December 1963, and Unit 2 following in August 1963. It opened as a 342MW coal-fired station, using coal from Kent and other coalfields. It was converted to burn oil in summer 1971 and further converted in 1989 to burn a proprietary oil and water emulsion called Orimulsion, imported from Venezuela through Port Richborough.
The site was also chosen as the site for an experimental 1MW wind turbine, which was at that time the largest ever installed in the UK, with permission given in 1987, and the turbine becoming live in 1989.
After growing concerns over the environmental effects of the Orimulsion fuel in the main power station, court action was taken in two separate actions, with both cases settled out of court. The 360MW station ceased generating in 1996. Following the plant closure, the majority of the equipment was removed during a strip out programme, which also saw the demolition of a number of the buildings, leaving only a few outbuildings, the office block and the landmark cooling towers and chimney standing.
In controlled blasts, the three 97m cooling towers and a single 127m chimney stack were demolished on 11 March 2012. Some locals had campaigned to keep the towers, saying they formed part of the historical landscape and were used as a navigation point by boats wanting to enter the mouth of the river Stour known to have a narrow channel of useful depth.

These pics were taken in the space of 1 minute and show the demolition process, the pics on the top are the first and last.

Made the collage and it removed exif info taken with Panasonic FZ45.

Don't get out so much now but doing archive digging! Best viewed Large

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