Amelia Milne went to visit Battersea Power Station and it really is worth it
It is the must-see destination for a weekend in London- the newly renovated Battersea Power Station.
Think the Tate Modern for it's art deco architectural value, but placed further south down the river Thames, right next to Battersea Park and the Victoria train station bridge. Originally built by architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who was responsible for the design of the red telephone boxes that we all know and love. His original proposals for the chimneys were square rather than round. A square peg and all that.
The renovation of Battersea Power Station has been a humungous undertaking on an epic scale and a massive financial undertaking. 1.75 million bricks have been crafted to restore the Battersea Power Station. Generations of Peregrine falcons have made the power station their home, and now we humans are finally getting to enjoy it for ourselves. What once was a waste land for photo shoots and for filming Vin Diesel films has become a fast and furious mecca for Sloane rangers who used to occupy the Kings Road.
Hordes of excited people come to this new site, which rivals Sydney harbour, along the banks of the Thames, offering anything you want in terms of materialistic entertainment. With over 100 shops, bars, restaurants, and leisure- you won’t be short of things to occupy you here. The site is sparkling new, with landscaped ponds and beautiful art installations of giant red Christmas baubles worthy of Anish Kapoor. It has become the new winter wonderland. Forget Hyde Park, this place has it all. Battersea Power Station has stalls selling food, little wooden cabins by the river where you can eat a picnic lunch or sit with your ‘demu cappu’.
The Glide ice rink is extraordinary and well worth a visit. Sponsored by Jo Malone, it’s the most efficient and largest ice rink that I’ve been to in London. Forget the National History Museum, there is no argy bargy here. After each hourly slot, an American style ice machine clears the ice for the next group for punters, like something from a Canadian ice hockey team.
Skaters skate around a giant Christmas tree right in front of the towering red brick power station and looking out towards the river Thames, flowing past in all its history with barges and river boats bobbing along, as if time has stood still. You can imagine Dick van Dyck dancing with his chimney sweep friends on the roof, over this stereotypical London skyline.
The ice rink is well worth a visit and after an hour of skating, some people were feeling slowly more confident as they embarked on trying to do a turn, whilst listening to the softly piped Christmas tunes. The rest of the clientele remain on the rink, still feeling nervous, grabbing the perimeter fence of the rink and hanging on for dear life, whilst their knees do 360 turns, and they try and stay upright.
I felt like we were skating in Central Park. The clientele on the ice rink were rather top drawer (excuse that expression) compared to other 'rougher' rinks – the odd Gucci scarf floating past gives a false feeling of security. My friend commented that Jo Malone wouldn’t put her name to it, unless it was good. We all felt very secure in this knowledge. Indeed, there is an actual Jo Malone perfume shop next to the ice rink, perhaps for first dates and those looking to seal the deal with some ‘perfumed ponce’ just for the joy of quoting a Withnail phrase. I can't think who would buy Jo Malone after going skating, so it must be a date thing?
Next stop was to the fairground rides by the ice rink for children and yet the adults were screaming, and the children were trying to comfort them. Who knew that the carousel, worthy of Mary Poppins, makes you feel very giddy indeed. The Ferris Wheel, which looks like a mini–London Eye, is disconcertingly very high up. It has views that are worth it, but it is not for the faint hearted. With a fear of heights, I stupidly accompanied my children on the Ferris Wheel, which did me the world of good. It is the closest thing I could have done to sky diving, as we rose above the power station, looking out towards Westminster and the London Eye and felt propelled across the London skyline as if we were flying. It was exhilarating.
We finished our trip with an Italian Lunch at Fiume, one of the many restaurants on offer. We very much enjoyed sausage pasta with truffle. The waiter was unsure when we enquired if it was winter or summer truffle, like we had put him on the spot. A simple ‘yes’ would answer and cover most eventualities. We wouldn't have known if he was lying or not. With so many restaurants on the square mile, they have to be excellent to compete for each other’s business, so you will be hard pushed to find a dud meal.
The power station itself is crammed full of things to do, with hundreds of shops like a giant shopping mall. For the brave, you can climb the turbine tower in a lift and see a panoramic view of London. This is the fully restored chimney that can take you 150 metres above London called Lift 109 – see you at the top.
There is a shop selling souvenirs, including a notebook with a photograph of the men who originally built the power station remnant of the Eiffel Tower builders or those who built the New York skyline, sitting on a crane eating their sandwich lunch on a precipice, with no health or safety whatsoever. How times have changed.
Those men risked their lives to create such an architectural masterpiece that we ignorantly enjoy today.
There are remnants of gigantic turbines and machines left amongst the interiors as a reminder of the power station as it once was, with it's feats of engineering which once powered this beast of a building.
Once smoke billowed out of each of it's four chimneys and into the London smog. Now it has a group of mothers from Chelsea wearing knee high boots, doing their Christmas shopping, and enjoying an eggnog by the river.
Joking apart, I really recommend you visit Battersea Power Station. It was fun and seemed a buzzing place in a good way. It felt so refreshing to see so many people walking about, since the gloom and doom of the lockdown days, all enjoying their weekend in the run up to Christmas, and Battersea Power Station more than delivers.
