Lemington Power Station
| Lemington power station | |
|---|---|
 Lemington Power Station, alongside disused ironworks Viewed from the Lemington Gut c.1903. | |
 | |
| Country | England |
| Location | Lemington |
| Coordinates | 54°58′28″N 1°42′42″W / 54.97444°N 1.71167°W |
| Status | Decommissioned and partially demolished |
| Commission date | 1903 |
| Decommission date | 1919 |
| Owner(s) | |
| Operator(s) | Newcastle and District Electric Lighting Company |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Coal |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | Two 410 kW and one 150 kW C. A. Parsons and Company |
| Nameplate capacity | 970 kW |
| External links | |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
Lemington Power Station was a small, now demolished
The station was opened in 1903 with a total generating capacity of 970
Background
In the early 1900s, an increasing number of areas were being provided with electricity, and train and tram lines were being electrified. In the area around Newcastle upon Tyne, this required the opening of power stations at
DisCo built a station at Lemington, in the western outskirts of the city, to provide electricity for a tram line which ran through their supply area, from the City Centre to Throckley.[2] The station was sited amid the derelict buildings of the Tyne Iron Company's ironworks. They had opened in 1797 and closed in 1886. The works were largely demolished, but some of the ironworks' buildings and chimneys still stood unused, and the power station was built amongst them. DisCo opened Lemington Power Station in 1903.[3]
Design and specification
The station consists of a parallel boiler house and
The station's boiler house housed three coal-fired
Operations
The power station was well situated for coal deliveries as it was only 200 yd (180 m) from Lemington Staithes.
As well as providing power for the tram system, the station was a source of electricity for local homes. The building of a power station brought major environmental improvements to what was a highly polluted area, because electricity represented a much cleaner source of household energy than coal, which was used at the time. Local households gradually switched to the new power source. A partner in the enterprise of the Lemington power station was
Closure and present
Production of electricity in the station ceased in 1919, ushered in by the completion of an extension to generating equipment at Newburn Steelworks.[3][9] The building was retained and continued to be used to supply power to the tram route by housing a sub-station, which used rotary converters.[2] The station also provided a service for local residents who wanted their wireless accumulators recharged.[5] The station continued to operate in this way until 1946, when the tram route was closed.[2] The station's chimney was demolished in 1949, along with remaining structures of the Tyne Iron Works, which had stood next to the power station throughout its operation.[5]
The main turbine and boiler building was a
The building stood amongst a small industrial estate at the foot of the nearby Lemington Glass Cone.[2] Along with the neighbouring Ironworks site, the power station's site is owned by Norland Construction, a crane and plant company formerly known as Reeds Cranes and Plant, who used the building as storage for their machinery. The site is thought to be contaminated with coal products, fuels and oils such as PCBs, as well as dioxins and furans. In 2003, Newcastle City Council released plans that they hoped to redevelop the site for heritage tourism in the future.[11]
The last remaining structures of Lemington power station were demolished in 2017.
References
- ^ "North Eastern Electricity Board". The National Archives. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- ^ a b c d e "Structure Details". SINE Project. Newcastle University. Archived from the original on 2 November 2005. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
- ^ a b c Smith, Ben A. C. "Local List of Buildings, Structures, Parks and Gardens of Special Local Architectural or Historic Interest in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne" (PDF). Newcastle City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f National civic federation Commission on public ownership and operation, ed. (1907). Municipal and Private Operation of Public Utilities. Vol. 2. National Civic Federation. p. 301. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ a b c d e A D Walton. Bygone; Bell's Close and Lemington. Newcastle upon Tyne City Libraries and Arts. [page needed]
- ^ Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
- ^ Ridgway, Doug. "Wylam Waggonway". Retrieved 7 October 2009.
- ^ John Ediminson; Drew Edminson. Old Tyneside: from Throckley to Walker. Stenlake Publishing. [page needed]
- ^ "The Electrical Journal". The Electrical Journal. 121. Michigan: University of Michigan: 533. 1938. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- ^ "Recent Listings and Designations" (DOC). newcastle.gov.uk. Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle City Council. 28 July 2004. Retrieved 5 October 2011. [dead link]
- ^ DTZ Pieda consulting (August 2003). "The Lemington Development Corridor Property Supply and Demand Study" (PDF). newcastle.gov.uk. Newcastle upon Tyne. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
