OVER the past month in Looking Back, we have been looking at the dramatic collapse of one of the towers at Fiddler's Ferry.

The incident in 1984 came after a massive storm.

It saw one of the towers come down due to the strength of the wind.

It was later rebuilt.

George Crompton worked as first aid and a firefighter at the power station and also remembers the occasion.

He said: "I was there at the time and my job was dealing with accidents and fires.

"I was on duty that morning when I got the call to pick up the manager from the control room in the fire engine.

"All the brickwork was designed to fall in the pond, unfortunately all the water spilled into the cable tunnels which went the length of the main buildings, setting off dozens of alarms in the control room.

 

Fiddlers Ferry

Fiddlers Ferry

 

"It was my job to reset it."

He retired in 1989 and now lives in Allostock.

The storm has also seen some slates had blow off the roof of the family home with the high winds.

Mr Crompton always took her calls as she was disabled, but his response was, “you will have to wait a bloody big tower has blown down here and I’m a bit busy!”

Fiddler’s Ferry opened in 1971, with a generating capacity of just under 2000 megawatts, enough to power two million homes. It closed on March 31 last year. The cooling towers are 374ft high and can be seen from the Peak District.

 

Fiddlers Ferry

Fiddlers Ferry

 

There is no firm date for when demolition, which is scheduled to take between 40 and 50 months to compete, will start.

There is also no plan yet for the land but it has been included in Warrington Borough Council's Local Plan and is likely to be used for housing.

More than 1,000 homes could be built on the site.