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| Let's keep Cockenzie, Scotland's modernist cathedral of power | Let's keep Cockenzie, Scotland's modernist cathedral of power |
| (30 days later) | |
| I love Cockenzie Power Station. As far as I am concerned, it does not have a best side. It is dirty and modern and boxy and symmetrical and I love it from every angle. | I love Cockenzie Power Station. As far as I am concerned, it does not have a best side. It is dirty and modern and boxy and symmetrical and I love it from every angle. |
| Few towns are so dominated by a single modernist building as Cockenzie on the Firth of Forth; its power station carries itself like a medieval cathedral towering over its hinterland. | Few towns are so dominated by a single modernist building as Cockenzie on the Firth of Forth; its power station carries itself like a medieval cathedral towering over its hinterland. |
| If you've ever lived in Edinburgh, then even from a distance of ten miles you will know these distinctive twin chimneys – each one an elegant and stately 500 feet high. That's two and half times the height of the Scott Monument and, for me at least, no less monumental. | If you've ever lived in Edinburgh, then even from a distance of ten miles you will know these distinctive twin chimneys – each one an elegant and stately 500 feet high. That's two and half times the height of the Scott Monument and, for me at least, no less monumental. |
| Designed in 1959, modernism in Scotland seldom had such scale to work with and RMJM, the architectural firm of Sir Robert Matthew, did not waste the opportunity. | Designed in 1959, modernism in Scotland seldom had such scale to work with and RMJM, the architectural firm of Sir Robert Matthew, did not waste the opportunity. |
| The building consists of simple shapes and contrasts, unfussy and clean, that are restful at a distance and imposing up close. The pencil-thin chimney stacks could have been painted by L. S. Lowry. | The building consists of simple shapes and contrasts, unfussy and clean, that are restful at a distance and imposing up close. The pencil-thin chimney stacks could have been painted by L. S. Lowry. |
| But Cockenzie Power Station has never received quite the same praise as other buildings from the same design partnership – most famously, the Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank and Edinburgh's Royal Commonwealth Pool. | But Cockenzie Power Station has never received quite the same praise as other buildings from the same design partnership – most famously, the Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank and Edinburgh's Royal Commonwealth Pool. |
| Now, however, is a good time to give Cockenzie the attention that it deserves. By the end of the March the coal plant will have generated its last watt and permission is in place to convert the site to a more efficient gas station. | Now, however, is a good time to give Cockenzie the attention that it deserves. By the end of the March the coal plant will have generated its last watt and permission is in place to convert the site to a more efficient gas station. |
| Though it may not quite have put the reek into Auld Reekie, Cockenzie has been quietly discharging planet-warming flue gases into the winds of East Lothian for 45 years. A 2005 report by the World Wildlife Fund report claimed that Cockenzie was the UK's least efficient power station, at least in terms of carbon dioxide released per unit of energy generated. | Though it may not quite have put the reek into Auld Reekie, Cockenzie has been quietly discharging planet-warming flue gases into the winds of East Lothian for 45 years. A 2005 report by the World Wildlife Fund report claimed that Cockenzie was the UK's least efficient power station, at least in terms of carbon dioxide released per unit of energy generated. |
| And now the European Large Combustion Plant Directive is forcing its closure. Allowed just 20,000 operating hours after January 2008, Cockenzie's time is up along with another notorious belcher, Kingsnorth in Kent, which closed in December last year. | And now the European Large Combustion Plant Directive is forcing its closure. Allowed just 20,000 operating hours after January 2008, Cockenzie's time is up along with another notorious belcher, Kingsnorth in Kent, which closed in December last year. |
| It is easy to see that this technology is now on the wrong side of history and I'm not going to defend it in this less innocent carbon age. | It is easy to see that this technology is now on the wrong side of history and I'm not going to defend it in this less innocent carbon age. |
| But we should remember that it was conceived as a part of a progressive, even utopian, vision for post-war Scotland – one part of wider modernist project for the Forth valley that gave us new towns like Glenrothes and Livingston; the Forth Road Bridge; and sister power plants at Kincardine, Methil and Longannet. | But we should remember that it was conceived as a part of a progressive, even utopian, vision for post-war Scotland – one part of wider modernist project for the Forth valley that gave us new towns like Glenrothes and Livingston; the Forth Road Bridge; and sister power plants at Kincardine, Methil and Longannet. |
| The logic of Cockenzie was, in the words of the old educational film "Forth - powerhouse of industry" saved by the Scottish Screen Archive, 'to turn the wheels of industry and to light the homes of the people'. That seems like a worthy aim. | The logic of Cockenzie was, in the words of the old educational film "Forth - powerhouse of industry" saved by the Scottish Screen Archive, 'to turn the wheels of industry and to light the homes of the people'. That seems like a worthy aim. |
| All of it, of course, was founded on coal. In April 1964, the Fife miners at Valleyfield shook the hands of their Lothian counterparts from Kinneil when their collieries were united 1800 feet under the Forth – four months before the Forth Road bridge was opened. | All of it, of course, was founded on coal. In April 1964, the Fife miners at Valleyfield shook the hands of their Lothian counterparts from Kinneil when their collieries were united 1800 feet under the Forth – four months before the Forth Road bridge was opened. |
| New 'super-pits' were sunk 3000 feet – an inverted Munro's depth – into the Carboniferous past. | New 'super-pits' were sunk 3000 feet – an inverted Munro's depth – into the Carboniferous past. |
| At Monktonhall Colliery, a few miles south east of Cockenzie, thousands of workers poured daily into this meticulously engineered abyss, capped with a winding gear that was itself encased in pulse-quickening Brutalism by Egon Riss, a one time colleague of Paul Klee. | At Monktonhall Colliery, a few miles south east of Cockenzie, thousands of workers poured daily into this meticulously engineered abyss, capped with a winding gear that was itself encased in pulse-quickening Brutalism by Egon Riss, a one time colleague of Paul Klee. |
| Of Monktonhall, there is now no trace though the rail link is still visible. Millions of tons of coal snaked down this line to be guzzled by Cockenzie. | Of Monktonhall, there is now no trace though the rail link is still visible. Millions of tons of coal snaked down this line to be guzzled by Cockenzie. |
| What has also been left behind – aside, perhaps, from a changing climate – are the stories, the memories and, of course, the ash. | What has also been left behind – aside, perhaps, from a changing climate – are the stories, the memories and, of course, the ash. |
| On the outskirts of Musselburgh, mountains of it have been landscaped to create habitats for post-industrial waders and wildfowl. Bar-tailed godwits now feed on the spoils of Forth industry. | On the outskirts of Musselburgh, mountains of it have been landscaped to create habitats for post-industrial waders and wildfowl. Bar-tailed godwits now feed on the spoils of Forth industry. |
| The closure of Cockenzie inevitably marks the end of an era – the passing of the 'long' twentieth century with its shiny promises of prosperity and growth. The fact that the power station was finally switched on in the midst of a tumultuous May 1968 only adds to the poignancy of its demise. | The closure of Cockenzie inevitably marks the end of an era – the passing of the 'long' twentieth century with its shiny promises of prosperity and growth. The fact that the power station was finally switched on in the midst of a tumultuous May 1968 only adds to the poignancy of its demise. |
| If Scottish Power press ahead with the CCGT gas plant, the news will be surely welcome for the communities of Cockenzie and Port Seton. But this development would also mean replacing the chimneys with much smaller stacks, leaving the old concrete monoliths to be demolished. | If Scottish Power press ahead with the CCGT gas plant, the news will be surely welcome for the communities of Cockenzie and Port Seton. But this development would also mean replacing the chimneys with much smaller stacks, leaving the old concrete monoliths to be demolished. |
| Shorn of its original grand proportions, Cockenzie will be left functional but, in aesthetic terms, without apparent vigour. | Shorn of its original grand proportions, Cockenzie will be left functional but, in aesthetic terms, without apparent vigour. |
| If this seems like a significant loss to Scotland's built environment, it is not a view shared by Historic Scotland. Cockenzie's sibling power station at Kincardine – also by RMJM and lauded by architects – was demolished in 2001. | If this seems like a significant loss to Scotland's built environment, it is not a view shared by Historic Scotland. Cockenzie's sibling power station at Kincardine – also by RMJM and lauded by architects – was demolished in 2001. |
| At some point, the eyesores of one generation become the icons of the next. Yes, coal power was dirty and damaging and we don't need to lament its passing. But nor, by the same token, do we always need to disavow its heritage which is as much part of Scotland's story as that lamentable gothic rocket on Princes Street. | At some point, the eyesores of one generation become the icons of the next. Yes, coal power was dirty and damaging and we don't need to lament its passing. But nor, by the same token, do we always need to disavow its heritage which is as much part of Scotland's story as that lamentable gothic rocket on Princes Street. |
| Ah, Cockenzie – lang may yer lums reek. Until the end of the month anyway. | Ah, Cockenzie – lang may yer lums reek. Until the end of the month anyway. |
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