Pyestock Diaries

It was definitely time for lunch and Tom and I suggested our favourite impromptu restaurant of the Plant House Control Room. We arrived to find it trashed and buzzing with a swarm of BlueBottles; another depressing addition of the mindless vandalism which was now occurring at Pyestock. So we decamped and moved to the conference room at the front of the building, pushed the octagonal tables together, unstacked some chairs and had lunch overlooking the deserted splendour of Cell 1 & 2, Admiralty Test House and the Power Station. The new fence could also be seen, travelling across our block and then northwards, therefore hemming us in and preventing easy access to the Power Station and Admiralty Test House. It didn’t hold up a fox who calmly trotted across the tarmac in front of Cells 1 & 2 and then scuttled away into the bushes. Tom captured it on his camera. "Cool" he said, "urban regeneration."

Suddenly everyone froze as a car engine punctured the silence. We all slid down our chairs so we couldn’t be spotted as a lone car, with orange warning lights, drove along the interior road. "Ah security." It was the first time we’d ever seen anyone drive around the site, let alone security. Five minutes later, the car drove back, and again we all slumped down in our chairs; it would’ve looked comical to a viewer. Oddly, the sight of security actively patrolling the site didn’t bother us; and we continued lunch at leisure whilst keeping an eye on the comings and goings of Pyestock. However our next encounter with the car would be anything but leisurely.

Part of the view from the Plant House conference room, looking south east towards the Power Station. Note the internal fence and the road along which the car appeared. 21|04|07 © Simon Cornwell 2007