Blackburn Meadows was privatised during the 1970s and was soon after put out of commission. The emergence of blockbuster coal-fired power stations such as Mexborough, Thorpe Marsh, Drax and Eggborough, which could produce eight times as much electricity as Blackburn Meadows, as well as the closure of local steel industries, meant that operation was never fully resumed. During the 1980s Blackburn Meadows was demolished leaving just two cooling towers that would stand for almost 30 years to remind the people of Sheffield of the pivotal part the power station played to the progress and development of the city during the twentieth century.

Audio in this section: (1) Gordon Sykes tells a tale of the Ropeway Operator
(2) Gordon Cameron explains how Electricity is made at Blackburn Meadows