Megawhatt Valley

Megawhatt Valley 

Megawatt Valley is a newspaper by Nottingham-based photographers Callum McNab and David Severn, and architectural historian Chris Matthews. The publication brings together photographs documenting the architecture and infrastructure of power generation in Nottinghamshire.

Megawatt Valley is the name given to the stretch of the River Trent that once hosted one of the highest concentrations of power stations in Europe. At its peak, the region generated up to a quarter of the power demand for England and Wales. The photographs focus on two of its former giants: West Burton, soon to be the site of Britain’s first prototype nuclear fusion reactor, and Ratcliffe-on-Soar, the UK’s last coal-fired power station, which closed in 2024.

An introductory essay by Chris Matthews makes the case for Ratcliffe’s design pedigree, tracing its lineage back to Ferrybridge C and its place among the Central Electricity Generating Board’s ten super stations. It also explores the transport-dominated hinterland surrounding Ratcliffe-on-Soar, a landscape where medieval churches sit beside motorways and railway lines.

Callum began photographing the spaces around Ratcliffe-on-Soar in 2021, drawn by a childhood fascination with the power station. David’s photographs, made during an extensive visit to West Burton, continue his long-running documentary interest in deindustrialisation and post-industrial communities. Together, their images move through turbine halls, coal mills, cooling tower interiors, and the villages and farmland that surround the plants.

Printed on recycled newsprint. Please bear in mind that small imperfections in the paper are normal.