FEW structures can lay claim to serve as an iconic image for any town, especially for buildings designed with functionality solely in mind, like power stations.

However, behind every structure is a tale of toil, of long days, and of hard graft – which for one man all come together to make the former Fiddlers Ferry site exactly that: iconic.

Debroy Parrington, 74, began working on the site for a sub-contractor with his brother during the power plant’s construction in 1968.

Debroy, known to many as Deb, originally grew up with 11 brothers and sisters – leading to ‘tough times’.

Such were the politics created by labour disputes, Deb had to lie about his union membership in order to get the job – a decision which he calls ‘wrong’.

Unlike today, health and safety concerns were not taken as seriously with Deb describing the site’s conditions as ‘scary’, with on-site injuries all too common.

Deb was voted in as the site’s shop steward, after raising concerns to colleagues about the scale of asbestos use during Fiddlers Ferry’s construction.

He claims there was enough insulation to cover four boilers within the facility, with workers not being given masks or protective clothing on site, which exacerbated the lack of decontamination facilities.

After being elected as shop steward, the plant’s management chose to sack Deb.

“The General Municipal Workers Union at the time were pretty weak, and they more or less said, ‘we’re not in a position to throw our weight around, you may be better doing it on site’.

“So it was left to us, I had a meeting with the site conveners for the mechanical and civil engineering [staff] and told them what the problem was.

“They called a mass meeting and threatened to throw the [management] company off the site.”

While that action did lead to a change in culture which improved workers’ safety, Deb wasn’t around to see it as he left for a job at Shell Chemicals in Carrington.

From there, he enjoyed a successful career starting his own business – Deb Parrington Ltd. Today it has become DP Metalwork and is owned and run by Deb’s son Julian from the Palatine Industrial Estate.

However, Deb still gets a chance to reflect every now and again: “I go for walks up to Fox Covert Cemetery, high up on the hill in Appleton, and I can look across to Fiddlers Ferry power station and see those iconic cooling towers, which are part of the landscape.

“I can be transported back in time to what it was like working there – it can come flooding back.”