[1] Ironbridge B Power Station stopped generating electricity on 20 November 2015, with the decommissioning process continuing into 2017.

[2] The main phase of the 27-month demolition process began at 11:00 GMT on 6 December 2019, commencing with the four cooling towers.

[3] Ironbridge was selected to be the site of a large, modern "super station" by the West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority, in February 1927.

[4] The close proximity of the River Severn and several railway lines provided excellent access to both cooling water and a source for the delivery of coal.

The flat land of the site, formed by fluvial processes at the end of the last ice-age, was ideal for the construction of a large turbine hall.

The cooling towers were deliberately constructed using concrete to which a red pigment had been added, to blend with the colour of the local soil.

[15] The station's turbine hall was decoratively clad in chipped granite faced concrete panels, aluminium sheeting, and glazing.

A free-standing administration block continued the theme of concrete panelling, albeit with extensive use of large floor to ceiling windows.

So impressive were the measures taken to ensure that the power station was an asset to the gorge and not an eyesore, that it was short listed for a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors/The Times conservation award in 1973.

[16] The station used low NOx burners and electrostatic precipitators to reduce its environmental impact.

[7] Until June 2010, approximately 3000 – 6000 tonnes of coal was delivered to the power station every day, via a branch line railway through Madeley, Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale, crossing the River Severn via the Grade 2 Listed Albert Edward Bridge.

From 2014 until closure, an additional three trains per day were worked by GB Railfreight from Liverpool dock with biomass chips, which were the main source of feedstock for the power station by then.

[18] In 1990 the CEGB was split into different companies for privatisation, and Ironbridge Power Station went through a number of ownership transfers before eventually being owned by Powergen.

[21] Ironbridge had been opted out of the Large Combustion Plant Directive, which meant the station would only be allowed to operate for up to 20,000 hours after 1 January 2008, and that it must close by 31 December 2015.

[22] In 2012 Ironbridge underwent modification to allow both generating units to run on 100% biomass (wooden pellets).

[33] In June 2018, Harworth Group announced that it had bought the Ironbridge power station site for an undisclosed sum.