Ratcliffe Power Station: Residents reminisce over dying embers of last coal plant

Residents in Ratcliffe-on-Soar told ITV News Central there was an 'emotional connection' to the power plant after it officially closed.

Monday 30 September was the final day that Ratcliffe Power Station operated after 57 years of energy production. It was the last coal-fired power station in the country.

Its eight giant cooling towers are one of the East Midlands' most recognisable landmarks. It has been keeping the lights on across the region since 1967.

It has been generating electricity for more than 500,000 homes, and some of the neighbours of the Ratcliffe Power Station had an emotional connection to them.

"I think it's always been a part of my life"

Mary Weston-Webb, who lives in one of the closest houses to the plant, said: "You can see them for so far away that you just tell people to head to the chimneys and they find it."

"My grandkids know when they're getting near my house."

"We do a game of 'who can spot the chimneys first?', it's a great place to live really."

Julie Paillin-Dean, who paddles in the stream nearby said it's always been a part of her life: "When I came back home from university it made me cry because it reminds me that I'm home, it's emotional."

But for others, it was about time.

'We need to move on'

Richard Morley's family lost 300 acres of farmland in the 1960s for the plant to be built.

He said: "You're coming near to home, but of course you can't forget the loss of the farm at the time, which was really quite serious for our family."

"Let's be fair it's done a terrific service but it's passed it's sell-by date. We need to move on."

It is the UK's last coal-generated power station, and its closure is part of the government’s strategy to end the use of fossil fuels for our energy production.

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