| << Previous | Index | Next >> | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
I nearly got it wrong on the special day of all days.
It five seconds before 8pm on October 17th 1962 and was a moment that Max green will never forget.
The world was watching
As Operations Superintendent it was his task to synchronize Unit 1 of Britain's newest and most prestigious power stations.
It isn't really the sort of occasion that I would remember as I've done literally hundreds of synchronisations said Max at his home in Bexhill on sea where he now lives in retirement with his wife Win.
As everyone knows, it is simply a question of closing a switch which when attaches the running unit to the bus bar which connects it into the grid, and it was usual for there to be just one switch.
I had completely forgotten that the West Thurrock unit was different and had two switches and a field switch - three in all, and I was actually reaching for the wrong switch - the field switch in fact - which, if I'd opened, would have wrecked the entire proceedings, luckily someone next to me noticed it and gave me a quick kick on the ankle and I realized my mistake before it was to late.
Max worked at the station for 20 years, becoming Operations Superintendent before his eventual promotion to region as an Assistant to the Director of Production. As is usual on occasions such as this, the control room was packed full of important people - there must have been more than 60 members of staff and contractors in there.
The technical Services Engineer for the region, Dick Phelan was there, and so too was the Chief Project Engineer Trevor broom, and he remembered the one West Thurrock VIP who was absent - Alan Sherry.
The Station Superintendent. He'd just been burned in an accident on site when some steam had escaped and he was unable to be there.
Picture reproduced from discontinued West Thurrock New's
Photo album created with Web Album Generator