Battersea Power Station
November 7, 2006 
On Saturday, we met our friends Amy and Phil to visit Battersea Power Station. Apart from the usual lateness in getting out of the house, I was unfortunate enough to step in some enormous, steaming dog crap. This delayed us even more, but we got there in time for some beautiful views of the station in the autumn sunlight, trying not to get lured into Battersea Dog’s Home.
As ever, Amy and Phil were great company. We queued for a short while to get in because there is a limit to the weight the structure can support, but this gave us ample opportunity to photograph low-flying planes next to the impressive chimneys.
Immediately inside was a tank! It appeared that some monstrous force had crushed the barrel of the tank. It turned out that the tank was nothing more than a sculpture and that some tourist had decided to swing off the barrel, crushing it in the process.
The inside of the power station is like something from 28 Days Later: lots of biology overtaking the old technology. Grass is abundant on the floors of the station and birds soar between the chimneys, which you can see thanks to the absence of a roof. It is eerie and beautiful. Surrounding the power station is a vast wasteland. I haven’t felt this dwarfed and exposed since standing in Alexanderplatz in Berlin.
There was an art exhibition featuring the work of Chinese artists. It was very strange and included a wall made out of rotting apples and some rather amusing animations.
You can see photos from the visit here.
You can see a satellite photo of the Power Station here.
