Battersea Power Station is located on the south bank of the River Thames, near Grosvenor Bridge and Chelsea Bridge, and is best viewed from Grosvenor Road. This decommissioned coal-fired power station is made up of two buildings. Battersea A Power Station was built in the 1930s, with Battersea B Power Station to its east in the 1950s. The two stations were built to an identical design, providing the well known four-chimney layout. Each of the two connected stations consists of a long boiler house with a chimney at each end and an adjacent turbine hall. The station had an annual coal consumption of over 1,000,000 tonnes. The majority of this coal was delivered to the station from coal ports in South Wales and North East England by coastal collier ships. The ships were “flat-irons.
The station ceased generating electricity in 1983 and has remained largely unused, with numerous failed redevelopment plans from successive site owners, however it has had numerous ‘cultural’ appearances, which include a shot in The Beatles’ 1965 movie Help!, and featured on the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1977 album Animals with pig flying through its chimneys.
Battersea Power Station faces north, so the river facing side is only in the sun in the mornings and late afternoon in spring, autumn and summer. This is the most famous side of Battersea Powers Station, so its worth getting there at the right time. The river and sky play a factor in the landscape, with the ideal conditions being found at high/low tide when the Thames is still, or when the sky and few clouds in it. You can sometimes be lucky with a good sunset /sunrise with Battersea Power Station as a backdrop, but you need to be either near Vauxhall Bridge or along Chelsea Embankment. You can only really photograph the site from a distance as it sits in a secure industrial area.
There are also many other areas close by that are worth visiting including Battersea Park, and Chelsea Embankment.
London Photo Areas and Routes 