Those who travel up Medina Way on their way to Cowes will have noticed the dilapidated old building on the right, the one with the castellated frontage and no roof – a Newport landmark just managing to hold on to life.
But what is it?
Well, it was once home to Newport’s very own power station, opened in 1901 by the IW Electric Light and Power Company.
It wasn’t the first on the Island. That honour went to Ventnor in 1899, but it was the biggest, and within a few years it also served parts of Cowes, via a cable running alongside the Cowes to Newport railway line.
Today it stands alone, an attractive and neglected gem full of potential in a sea of mediocre retail buildings.
What a shame it would be to lose such a quirky and distinctive part of Newport’s skyline, but the building is not listed, and is currently in the hands of developers, so its future remains uncertain.
In 1903, electricity spread to Ryde and Seaview, and in July 1904, the County Press reported: “The works at Skew Bridge were started in 1901, and at the end of that year the Shanklin and Sandown Electric Light Works had 4,380 lamp connections in the district.
“Today they have upwards of 11,000 connections.”
By 1914, electricity had arrived, the County Press reporting: “The Electric Light and Power Company held an exhibition at Union Street, Ryde, last week to demonstrate the uses to which electricity can be put in the home for lighting, heating, and cooking.
“Amongst the domestic uses illustrated were vacuum cleaners, radiators, convectors and electric fires.
“In Ryde alone there are over 100 electric irons in successful use.
“Under the new system of charging for electricity the cost is under a halfpenny an hour.”
In 1928 the company built a power station at Kingston at East Cowes to serve the whole Island and do away with the local power stations, the County Press reporting: “The Isle of Wight, separated, as it is, by several miles of sea, is not likely to be connected to ‘The National Grid’ because of the technical and financial difficulties.
“Already 38 miles of cable have been laid underground and eventually a line will be run from Newport to Freshwater, but this part of the scheme is being delayed until the eastern side is completed.
“Unfortunately, high tension electric mains are very costly and an overhead main to Freshwater would cost well over £1,000 per mile.”
When power cuts occurred, life ground to a halt.
On January 30, 1932, after the latest power cut, the County Press reported: “Another All-Island Electric Light Failure.
“Great inconvenience was again caused to customers throughout the Island by a failure of the supply for about 50 minutes on Tuesday evening.
“This is the second failure in three months; it is extremely inconvenient, and the public will expect some measures to be taken to avoid them in future.
“Island towns lit by electricity were suddenly plunged into darkness.
“Newport High Street was blacker than during the war-time period of restricted illumination. “It was surprising how quickly candles and oil lamps appeared in the shops.
“The cinemas and Post Offices suffered the greatest inconvenience.
“At the Grand cinema at Newport the audience were given the choice of waiting or having a ticket for another performance.
“At the Post Offices, clerks laboured under difficulties with candles placed along the counter.”
The following year, 1933, the power company said: "The number of electricity consumers in the Island is 8,900 and last year we added no fewer than 1,200 new ones.
“Very soon, every village on the Island will have a supply available."
Not quite – that prophecy took another 20 years.
In 1948 the electricity industry, originally started by free enterprise, was nationalised.
By this time the Newport power station had been closed for 20 years but transformers on the site remain part of the Island’s electricity supply to this day.
To complete the circle, in 1990, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sold off Britain’s power generation industry as part of her ‘privatisation’ programme.
As a result, Britain’s power generation is now in the hands of foreign owners.
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