Image ID: 21828

Electricity pylon after construction

Not Known
England

This picture is part of a set given to Mansfield Library, taken by the General Electricity Generating Board and donated by Powergen UK. They are mostly of unidentified electrical parts, cables, pylons or machinery. If anyone can help identify what or where they are, please let us know via the web-site. Prior to March 1990, the vast majority of electricity supplied in England and Wales was generated by the CEGB (Central Electricity Generating Board), which also owned and operated the transmission system and the interconnectors with Scotland and France. The National Grid was extended and improved with a massive post war building program during the 1950's and 1960's (when the pictures seen here were taken), particularly with the construction of fossil fuel and nuclear power-stations, as well as hundreds of thousands of pylons which seemed at the time to be invading the landscape. The great majority of the output of the CEGB was purchased by the 12 area electricity boards, each of which distributed and sold it to customers. On 31 March 1990, the electricity industry was restructured and then privatised under the terms of the Electricity Act 1989. The National Grid Company plc assumed ownership and control of the transmission system and joint ownership of the interconnectors with Scotland and France, together with the two pumped storage stations in North Wales, but these stations were subsequently sold off. The CEGB's remaining non-nuclear generating stations were transferred to National Power and PowerGen, while its nuclear generating stations were transferred to Nuclear Electric. Subsequently, the new PWR (Pressurised Water Reactor) and AGR (Advanced Gas Reactor) nuclear power stations of Nuclear Electric and Scottish Nuclear were combined and a new company called British Energy created. The old magnox nuclear power stations were left in government ownership as Magnox Electric and then acquired by BNFL (British Nuclear Fuels Limited).

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KeywordsElectricitypowerpylonwirescablesenergyinsulatorsconstructionfieldrurallandscape

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