Battersea Power Station; no doubt it is an icon of the London skyline, it is pretty impressive from the banks of the Thames but standing inside is something else. This place is massive. Even though it is now a shell and a shadow of its former self, Battersea is still a really impressive building. And for those who think laterally, this place contains a few cool surprises.

The Battersea trip started like many before it: waiting alone, late at night in a dark, dodgy industrial estate trying to look as normal as possible. Thankfully before long Loops arrived and we were down to business.

Entry is half the fun and the convoluted path to Battersea is no disappointment. Once we were in and convinced we had not heard the dreaded pitter-patter of a pissed-off doberman we turned our attention to goal number one: the stacks. Like a happy little UrbEx tourist, I climbed 20 stories of ladders with a silly grin on my face. I can't describe the view from the top so just look at the panorama. This is what it is all about.

With the stacks conquered and numb fingers from the cold we made our way back down to our second goal: Control room A. For those of you who have not read about this place on 101 other UrbEx web sites, Battersea was build in two stages, basically the second stage was a mirror of the original plant, hence, two control rooms. Control room A is the original and the oldest (it's all in the name really).

Control room A is pretty much as it was the day it closed in 1975, with slightly more pigeon shit. After some lateral thinking and a liberal coating of said pigeon shit we were in. What lay before us was heaven in the form of an abandoned power station control room. It is ornately decorated in 1930s art deco style, complete with parquetry floors and 1000s of instruments in pristine condition. The panorama says it all.

So once photos were taken and I'd convinced myself I knew how to run a 500MW coal fired power station we made our exit.

The last thing we did was admire Battersea and all her splendor from the ground level of the former boiler hall. Here you really feel how big this place is, everything towers over you and the stacks seem taller than they ever have been before.

On our way out we stopped to take one more photo and say a quiet thank you to Battersea for letting us visit.

Cheers to Loops for a fun expo.

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