2-368-526 - Worldwide Photography/Heritage-Images

Lea Hall Colliery and Rugeley A Power Station, Staffordshire, 1963. Lea Hall was the first colliery planned and sunk by the National Coal Board (NCB) and work began in 1954, with the twin shafts being sunk to a depth of 396 metres and the first coal being produced in 1960. The colliery employed 200 men and at times it produced in excess of 1,000,000 tons per year. Construction started on Rugeley A Power Station in 1956 and it opened in 1963. This was the first joint venture between the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) and the NCB and coal was delivered directly from the colliery to the power station via conveyor belt. Rugeley's cooling towers were also innovative as they were the world's first large dry cooling towers. This was an experimental design intended to eliminate water loss. The power station, the first to be controlled entirely from a control room was closed in 1995 with the adjacent Rugely B remaining, having opened in 1972. Lea Hall was closed in 1990 due to economic circumstances.