Last Saturday I fulfilled a dream I have had for a long time - I got up close and personal with Battersea Power Station. This iconic building has always fascinated me, long before I moved to London and even as far back as childhood. For me it has always been a beautiful beast - a true design classic that loomed almost protective between north and south London. I used to almost fantasise about being let loose inside and finding all the old workings, control rooms and marveling at the superstructure. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott was a clever chap indeed - he also designed to Red Telephone Box and Bankside which now houses Tate Modern.
The power station has had several attempts at regeneration since the 80s, all of which were rejected or failed to raise the capital necessary. The creator of Alton Towers had a crack in 1993 with the idea of creating a theme park - it didn't get off the ground (good job - it looked awful), but much of the art decor interiors were ripped out during the preliminary work - this made me very angry when I found out! The current and successful idea is ambitious to say the least - it is a controversial project that will dwarf the power station when complete, but is very aesthetic, environmentally friendly and will put Battersea even more firmly on the map (they even diverting the northern line to create a new tube station)!
So then, I got down to the site first thing Saturday morning, which was the last day the power station was open the public before works begin...ever! Not surprisingly there were loads of photographers and a real sense of excitement in the air. We were led to a brilliant visitors centre then basically had the freedom to roam around the perimeter. The interior was unfortunately out of bounds due to health and safety, but this didn't spoil the whole experience. Brilliant morning - loved it. I will watch the regeneration with interest.
Spent the rest of the weekend doing odd jobs and giving out little flat a good old clean. Last night we went over to Thames Ditton to see Andy and Kath who have just moved down from Harrogate (Andy is going to study product design at Kingston Uni). Cool to have some new (old) friends down here to play with.
All for now - more soon.
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