The Old Croydon Power Station
Image: Croydon 'B' Power Station in 1952
The historic chimneys looming over Ikea are the only reminder left standing of the borough's old power station. When the last of the site's cooling towers were demolished in 1966 it was a momentous event, with more than 1,000 residents giving up their Sunday morning lie-ins to watch explosives experts blow up the 200ft towers from the safety of Wandle Park.
The first two of the disused cooling towers had been demolished in 1974 after they became surplus to requirements following the closure of the Croydon power station the previous year.
Back in 1974 the first demolition attracted a wide audience. Police patrolled the area to ensure eager spectators did not get too close to the demolition site, while ambulance crews stood by ready to tend to any casualties.
One old newspaper report from 1974 reads. "A flash of fire, a deafening explosion and 2,500 tons of reinforced concrete began to collapse from 200 feet up. It seemed like slow motion, but in fact it took just four seconds for the cooling tower built in the mid1930s to become a pile of rubble.''
One man outside the site was a hit on the head by a falling pane of glass and had to be treated at Mayday Hospital for minor injuries.
The Croydon 'B' power station, on Beddington Farm Lane, was designed and intended to be built before the Second World War.
Work first started on the site in 1939 but was suspended during the war with work starting again in 1945. It was eventually completed in 1950 and the plant was in operation by December 1951.
After the Croydon 'B' power station was closed in 1984 and the remaining cooling towers were demolished in 1985, the land was acquired by the Carroll group who planned to transform the site into a retail and entertainment complex called The Power House.
However the plans never materialised and the land was bought by Ikea a few years later.