Power

Today we travelled south to see my Dad in Southampton. We dropped Bob off at the cattery first thing, then stopped for breakfast and coffee at Wilf's in Staveley. Then on the long road south.

Everything was going well until the A34 became stationary just south of Oxford. We were stuck fast for nearly two hours with the road closed ahead, before we were diverted off near Didcot. Rather than carrying on queuing for the diversion route, we headed towards Didcot in search of somewhere for a cup of tea. By now the sun was beginning to set behind the Didcot power station, with the plumes from the chimney and cooling towers backlit apocalyptically.

The Didcot power station has been a familiar landmark for me since I was at university and used to catch the train back home to South Wales via the Didcot junction. I've never seen it quite like this though. It was originally built to burn coal, though now apparently it also runs on gas. This 2000 MW station is due to shut in 2015, while the much less conspicuous gas turbine station on the site will carry on.

We were about 3 hours later arriving at Dad's than originally expected. But the old flier is looking in good form, much better than when I saw him just before Christmas.