Tag Archives: concorde

Oxford’s Old Power Station to get poshed up

A missive from the egregious Said Business School (SBS)is holding a “consultation” on the future of the Old Power Station, on the Thames, just a slingshot away from Mill Street.

The message, in a bottle, is reproduced below.

But there are things the SBS doesn’t say, as well as things it does say, with implications for the original inhabitants of Old Osney Island, that’s us folk on Arthur Street, Mill Street and the rest.

The towering edifice was used in times of yore to test Concorde engines and then to host exhibits from the Ruskin.  Then there was a health scare because it seemed to hold rare chemicals and stuff stored away.

Then a possibly dangerous harpoon was found, it seems. And squatters were evicted.

The SBS didn’t really respond to FOI requests, I think you’ll find.

Anyway, the document issued for the consultation, below, said SBS is pushing ahead with a proposal offering “bespoke conferencing facilities. It doesn’t say what the impact on the area will be, how many bricks will go, and how the poor people on Arthur Street will feel about huge lorries making a right turn from there past Kite 2.0, also known as the Porterhouse now and the effect it will have on both Mill Street and the Botley Road.

Hey, I guess we residents will have the chance to forewarn the planners ahead of the “conference”. It’s all about the regeneration of West Oxford, you know.   

How many bricks, exactly?

It’s been a while since I’ve Volesofted, I’ve been on Defacebook a lot, but it occurs to me that Volesoft is worth keeping going.

Oxford power stationNow this picture, taken here this morning, is of the west side of Mill Street, and looming over Arthur Street is what once was the Oxford Electric Power Station – it brought light to Oxford and beyond it is the river, where the barges brought coal and the stokers worked day and night to keep the juice pumping.

Other elements in its existence include being a testing place for Concord engines – heck that must have made quite a racket. And, right now, it is a repository for books, books and more books and is under the stewardship of Oxford University.

But the thing that intrigues me more is the number of bricks that make up this imposing edifice. I wouldn’t know how to begin to count them or their weight.

And talking about bricks, if I find the vandal who has started demolishing my front garden’s brick wall, I can assure you you will be well treated to Mageek justice… ♥

The Old Power Station is not a listed building. But it should be

JUST BY THE Thames Isis there is an enormous brick building which at one time supplied Olde Oxford Town with all of its energy.

It is the Old Power Station on Arthur Street, a place where after it stopped generating energy for the city, Concorde engines were tested.

We are appalled to learn this enormous building is not a listed building. Perhaps our local Labour councillors, Susanna Pressel and Colin Cook, could put this on their agenda.

Anyway, last night it was free booze for the residents of Mill Street, as the finalists of Ruskin entertained us with their wondrous creations. See below. ♥