Fiddler's Ferry tower collapsed in the 1980s in a storm

Warrington Disability Partnership is holding a raffle in partnership with Peel NRE, with the winning participant getting the chance to be responsible for the destruction of four of the iconic Warrington Towers.

Tickets will be just £2, with the funds going towards the disability charity.

But did you know one was destroyed almost four years ago. It came down following a massive storm in January 1984.

The UK was hit by a massive storm with disruption seen across the country.

At Fiddler's Ferry, the early morning storm was so bad that a violent gust of wind hit the power station and one of its cooling towers was blown down.

Fred Hoskin remembers the incident well.

He said: "My dad worked there and he was telling me that on the night it happened, one of the lads came into the room and said one of the cooling towers has just collapsed.

Fiddlers Ferry

"He was laughed out of the room.

"I went into the power station the next day with my dad and took these pictures.

"There is one of the new tower being built in 1985."

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.

"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 and his wife called.

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 2020. The cooling towers are 374ft high and can be seen from the Peak District.

Fiddlers Ferry

Fiddlers Ferry