A Blot on the Landscape
Ironbridge is a World Heritage Site and rightly so. Go a few kilometres upstream and the gorge opens out and you can see how the Severn meanders across the countryside. Note that meander comes from the River Meander in Turkey.
River Severn above Ironbridge
But turn to the left and between where I took this picture and the Iron Bridge you will see this.
Ironbridge Power Station
This is the coal-fired Ironbridge Power Station. It was built in 1981 and according to Friends of the Earth is the second worst polluter in the UK per megawatt generated.
It just shows how attitudes have changed over time.
Would anybody in their right mind build a power station there now?
As an aside here, remember that I have a degree in Electrical Engineering from Liverpool University and have spent quite a bit of my working life looking at how large projects, structures and machines are built and managed.
When you burn coal to produce electricity, you turn a tonne of coal into 2.93 tonnes of carbon dioxide. If you were to use natural gas to get the same amount of electricity, the figure is lower. This quote from Wikipedia gives all the figures.
This can be used to calculate an emission factor for CO2 from the use of coal power. Since the useful energy output of coal is about 30% of the 6.67 kWh/kg(coal), the burning of 1 kg of coal produces about 2 kWh of electrical energy. Since 1 kg coal emits 2.93 kg CO2, the direct CO2 emissions from coal power are 1.47 kg/kWh, or about 0.407 kg/MJ.
The U.S. Energy Information Agency’s 1999 report on CO2 emissions for energy generation, quotes a lower emission factor of 0.963 kg CO2/kWh for coal power. The same source gives factor for oil power in the U.S. of 0.881 kg CO2/kWh, while natural gas has 0.569 kg CO2/kWh. Estimates for specific emission from nuclear power, hydro, and wind energy vary, but are about 100 times lower.
What I find interesting about these figures is the discrepancy between the first figures for CO2 from coal and the US ones!
But whichever set you accept, the message is simple; Don’t Burn Coal!
Ironbridge
In the end I left about just before two and after a pretty easy drive along the A14, M6 and M54, I arrived at Ironbridge about four thirty. The only delays were around the M6/M5 junction, but they were minimal. At least the signs had told me that the motorway was reasonably clear, so I didn’t take the more expensive option of the M6 Toll. The problem with that road is that it doesn’t link up properly with the M54 and you sometimes get delayed on the single carriageway link.
Why do we create cheap junctions and miss bits out when we built roads like the M54-M6 Toll Link, the A14-M1-M6 junction at Catthorpe and the A11 missing link at Elveden? I suspect it’s because the mandarins in the Treasury don’t travel except by executive helicopter or First Class train. So they never suffer the inconvenience they leave us. It just needs proper planning!
On the other hand I once met a senior mandarin. He was single, couldn’t swim, couldn’t ride a bike, lived in a terraced house in Surbiton and was very lacking in general common sense. But he had got a First from Oxford!
To return to Ironbridge.
The Iron Bridge
I got there just as it was closing. And by closing I mean virtually everything. I asked in one cafe why they were closing at five and they said it was because everybody left then because that was the time the museums closed.
On a gorgeous summer evening like last night, they should be open till at least six and if it was me, it would be seven or eight.
View from the Iron Bridge
This is the view looking north and it shows the deep gorge carved out by the River Severn.
Looking the Other Way from the Iron Bridge
And this is the view looking downstream.
Next time I’ll go earlier and check out some of the museums. One thing though is that the long term car park on the other side of the bridge to the town was very affordable and reasonably empty. I should have got my bike out to explore the town.
Are We Tourism Friendly?
I am going to see Ipswich play at Shrewsbury tonight. Let’s hope it’s better than Sunday.
So I thought I’d leave about lunchtime, go to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum and then have a meal in a decent restaurant before the match. Or have a decent lunch, then go to the Museum.
But!
The Ironbridge Gorge Museum shuts at five! In other words you arrive after lunch and have probably about two hours to explore. Surely, if we want to encourage people to stay at home, then museums should be open much later in the summer. Especially, as with Britain’s variable weather, we need to try just that bit harder.
As to restaurants, there is nothing in the area in the Good Food Guide. Not necessarily definitive, but it’s always a good pointer as to the eating experience. No restaurants at all, usually means nobody tries.
The Anonymous Widower 