EVERY time you drive, cycle or walk along Foss Islands Road you're reminded of the York Power Station which once stood there - and which, in its heyday, could supply about one third of the city's electrical needs.

Well, we've been digging around in our archives - and we've come up with a stunning sequence of photographs of that power station.

They range from an aerial view taken in 1950 showing the effects of a devastating explosion the year before, to the early 1970s when the power station was fully functional, to a sequence of photographs showing the station's demolition between 1977 and 1981.

The coal-fired power station was built by the York Corporation in the late 1890s, and was opened in February 1900. For almost 50 years it was run by the York Corporation's own electricity department, but was taken over by the British Electricity Authority in the late 1940s, following nationalisation.

Shortly after 4.20am on Thursday, October 27, 1949, a massive explosion tore through it - many who were awakened by the noise may have been forgiven for thinking they'd somehow been transported back to the York Blitz.

According to a piece written for The Press in 1999 by John Ormerod, the explosion happened when a riveted joint on Boiler No 1 gave way.

York Press:

July 1950: aerial photograph showing the devastation caused by the explosion in 1949

"The instantaneous release of the stored steam energy broke the massive boiler into three main parts each weighing up to 25 tons, propelled them through the walls and roof of the boiler house and engine room and deposited them as far as 150 feet away," John wrote.

"Extraordinarily one piece of the super-heater had landed inside the cooling tower which was 120 feet high and some 300 feet distant on the opposite side of the river Foss. Two sections of the boiler wrecked the waste destructor building and the third brought down the overhead cranes. Foss Islands Road was completely blocked with debris and destined to stay closed to traffic for some time for safety reasons."

There were nine staff on duty at the time of the explosion: Joseph Percy Wood, charge engineer; Francis Geoffrey Shackleton, switchboard attendant; Timothy Snowden, turbine driver; Eric Smith and Douglas Winn, stokers; Jack Wilkinson and George Stead, fitter and mate; Arthur Henry Horwell, plant attendant; and James Duncan, ash plant attendant.

One man, Arthur Horwell, was killed - although his body was not found until five days later, buried under hundreds of tons of rubble. Six of the other eight staff were injured, and five required hospital treatment.

One survivor, Geoffrey Shackleton, was later to talk in some detail about what had happened.

He was on a gantry over the engine room when there was a terrific explosion and everything went black, Mr Ormerod wrote. "Together with Tim Snowden the turbine driver, he made for the exit as debris rained down. Snowden managed it with nothing worse than cuts and a sprained ankle. Shackleton remembers that he was hit on the head by debris and briefly trapped, but that he quickly freed himself and escaped into the road.

"He vividly remembered the tremendous noise and a firework display of sparks from the 3,300 volt oil filled switchgear which had been damaged allowing oil to escape and then set on fire."

Having collected his thoughts, Mr Shackleton made his way back into the devastated engine room, climbing over rubble to reach the control room from where he called the emergency services. Remarkably, he realised that the station was still producing power. "The 11,000 volt system was still in operation and feeding most of the city and the suburbs," Mr Ormerod wrote.

An official inquiry revealed that the joint on Boiler No 1 had failed because of a build-up of caustic soda which had made the steel crack. Changes were made to the way the boiler feed water was treated.

York Press:

March 1976: The York cooling tower and bridge on Foss Islands Road

Following repairs, the power station continued to generate electricity until the mid 1970s. It eventually closed in October 1976 - almost exactly 40 years ago - and by January 1977 workmen were already putting up the scaffolding that would enable them to demolish the giant cooling tower. Demolition of the tower cost £100,000 and had to be done piece by piece, as the position of nearby buildings made it impossible to blow up.

In February 1981 a 60 foot electricity pylon - one of the last reminders of the power station other than the chimney which still stands today - was pulled down.

York Press:

February 1981: the electricty pylon being pulled down

Electricity board workers attached a hawser and cut through two of the main supports.

"Then, after a Land Rover gave a short tug, the pylon fell slowly to the ground, where the demolition team began cutting it into more manageable pieces," said a report in the Yorkshire Evening Press.

Stephen Lewis