Okay, so maybe not for us lot, but for the frogs, fish, snakes etc etc that make their home under the
Tinsley Viaduct, between Junctions 33 and 34 of the
M1 Motorway, the sky will be falling. Yep, after seventy years of, if not piercing the sky, then at least making it distinctly difficult for it to lay down nice and flat so it meets the ground properly, the iconic cooling towers at Tinsley are finally definitely actually going to be demolished, in the early hours, of August 24th. After years of campaigns, offers to purchase the towers, petitions and studies, they are definitely coming down.
Why do we care? Because as trite as it sounds, the cooling towers are part of
Sheffield's heritage.
We've always been an industrial city, famous for our steelworks which used to cover the landscape, even today, Sheffield steel is sold all over the world, and "Made in Sheffield" is still a hallmark of quality on various steel goods, from small knives and surgical instruments, right through to massive machine parts and girders, for all manner of industrial and construction applications.
And Sheffield has been an industrial city for over 200 years. In WW2, Sheffield was
vigorously bombed to try and prevent the mass production of tanks, and armaments for the British war effort, we were the only ones who had the skill and the machinery to produce parts without which aircraft like the Spitfire and the Lancaster would never have flown.
After the war, Sheffield continued to be a major manufacturer of steel, manufacturing and exporting steel goods made all over the world. Heavy industry flourished and tens of thousands of workers were able to put food on the table thanks to the steel industry.
And ever since before the war, and for about thirty years afterwards, Blackburn Meadows power station, (on the site of which stood a total of seven cooling towers of which five have been demolished) provided electricity for the mills, the foundries and the factories.
The power station was closed in the mid 70's, and five of the towers were demolished. However, these two were too close to the new Tinsley Viaduct, part of the M1 Motorway, being only 17 metres from the bridge, to be safely brought down.
So for thirty years after the demolition of the power station, the towers, now affectionately - usually - known as The Tinsley Towers, have become a real living symbol of Sheffield's history. A real life surviving part of heritage. Sheffield has moved on now, steel is now only a small part of the city's economy, having been replaced by education and sport. But still the towers stand to remind us of what the city used to be like and what it used to represent.
For many years they have been controversial. Many people wanted them demolished as eyesores, and just as many vigorously opposed such an act, claiming just as I claim, that they are part of our heritage and history.
Whichever viewpoint any resident Sheffielder subscribed to, the fact remained that when the Tinsley Towers appeared over the horizon, coming across on the M1 from London, Dover, Calais, Trier, or wherever in the world you'd been, you knew that you were home. Standing on the horizon or looming above you as you pass them, they're still as familiar as the shapes of words or the wallpaper in your home, they were/are part of every Sheffielder's life, whether Sheffield born (like me) or not. I remember staring wide eyed at their size and presence every time we passed them when I was a kid, whether going on holiday or just going out somewhere.
So various groups have been putting in proposals to save the towers. Some wanted them turned into leisure resorts, music arenas, skating rinks, while others wanted them turned into giant works of art - Sheffield's own Angel Of The North. Some people tried to get them Listed Building status, while others criticised these plans and continued to call for their demolition.
The new owners of the towers,
E.ON UK always said that the towers would have to come down if they were to build on the site, an announcement which brought relief and satisfaction to some, and anger and sadness to others.
In the end though, it seems that the decision has been made without the involvement of anyone concerned, including E.ON. The official line is that after many years of debating what to do with the towers, the towers themselves have made it clear that they're not going to stick around.
Apparently, the towers are becoming unsafe, and left standing, would shortly become structurally unstable, as the concrete falls victim to 70 years of erosion, no doubt helped by being surrounded by heavy industry and later having a major motorway sited next to them, the fact is, according to the study by a bunch of people whos names I don't remember, if the towers don't collapse safely - I.e. in a controlled demolition, they may well collapse unsafely; That is, onto the twin deck four lane motorway next to them.
Obviously the fact that the motorway bridge has spent the last few years under refurbishment and strengthening in a program that cost fourteen times as much as it cost to build the thing is quite foremost in the minds of its owners, and so, for this reason it seems, that the kindest thing to do, to use an animal simile, is to end the lives of the towers humanely, rather than let them suffer and die.
That's the official line anyway, and I have to admit, I'm going to buy it, whether it's true or not. Why? Because if the towers are going to collapse, then nothing is to be gained by fighting their demolition, whereas if they are capable of standing another hundred years, then what E.ON are proposing is a damn crime and this choice shouldn't have been allowed to have been made.
I like the towers. They're part of Sheffield, as much a part as Meadowhall, or the Cathedral, or even the City Hall, and I'm going to be sorry to see them go. I guess believing that they'll go one way or the other is easier for me than believing someone I've never met is negatively influencing my life and I can't do anything about it. So sue me, I'm only human.
So what am I going to do about it?
Is this the part where I tell you that I'm going to become a warrior who fights on the side of light against the evil forces of E.ON?
Er, no. Sorry.
What I am going to do though, is give the towers a good sendoff. I did briefly (very very briefly - see why below) consider smashing a cheap bottle of champagne against the towers prior to their demolition. I decided against this for several reasons:
1. It is a waste of Alcohol.
2. You smash bottles of champagne on things to commission them, not decommission them.
3. I can't throw a 1 kilo bottle of champagne from Kimberworth to Tinsley, even if it is only a mile or so.
4. They won't let me on site to do this, and even if they did I wouldn't know how to get there.
5. It's just being silly.
So instead, I'm going along to watch them come down, come rain or shine, whether it's at 2am or 3am. The place is going to be lit up like a christmas tree, and I'm going to get some great photos. And some great video.
And then, I'm going to have a wake
(In local modern usage at least, Wake is a term for a for a party after the funeral during which the memories of the departed are drunk to and the lives of the departed are celebrated with copious amounts of alcohol - it's not quite the same thing as a "real" religious wake) for them. I'm not going to set anything on fire, but I am going to buy a cheap bottle of champagne, drink the champagne, and then probably for the sake of completeness,
fall over and smash it against our concrete driveway. I am going to listen to cool tunes, drink cool tasting cocktails with alcohol in, I may even invite two or three friends over. Responsible friends obviously - this isn't technically MY house.
We'll have a "goodbye tinsley towers, we'll miss you" farewell party, and have a laugh and chill out and try not to get too sad, which may be easy or may not be. At least I have the fact that I get paid 2 days after the towers come down, to cheer me up.
It's not all doom and gloom though, really, despite the sadness and - by my standards at least - solemnity of this particular blog entry, because E.ON, who plenty of people would deem, as my dad says, "big bad bastards" have promised that where the two towers stood, they will build something to remember them by, or to commemorate them, (I'm trying to avoid thinking of where I've heard this before) something that the city can be proud of. The company has set aside £2 million for an art sculpture to be built, and its theme is "energy". Well something like the suggestion on the left seems ideal, the same size and shape, made out of nice latticed steel. I'm sure there are other suggestions out there, but this is the only one I've seen a picture of, and therefore in my tired state of mind, the best choice. It'll look nice on a winter's morning with the sun behind it, which as the motorway adjacent to the sculptures runs north, would be directly behind the new towers. Which I suppose would be good photography. When it comes to sunset.
So it isn't all sadness and sombre depressing funereal wallowing in despair or whatever, the towers have been part of Sheffield for a long time, longer than either of my parents, or this house, or even this road. It's only fair that they get some rest I suppose, and they're definitely going out with a bang.
Now I just need to figure out how to get two tripods, a samsung digicam, a nikon D200 and a couple of lenses to Kimberworth - the best vantage spot to watch the towers come down.
Hmm, I wonder if my brother is going along to watch them. It's on a sunday morning and he's lived in Sheffield all his life too - i'd be surprised if he doesn't go. Maybe that's an idea...
That's all :).
E.ON UK Press release detailing the planned destruction of the towers. They wanted to turn the towers into art pieces.The Sheffield Star: "Tinsley Towers demolition date revealed"Some photos of the towers from the urban explorer forumsArtists disappointed at refusal to renovate the towers
