I love this photo of a photo, which I snapped last week at a sports centre near Sizewell power station. It was taken the last time a power station was built here, decades ago. The image reminds me of a travelling circus rumbling into town with wagons full of equipment.
Nuclear power stations are usually in remote locations, which means that when we build a new one, it inevitably involves big lorries driving down narrow roads. Like a circus, it really is a spectacle in the original sense of the word — a visually striking performance display.
But what caught my eye is the pride in these photos. They were displayed in the sports centre alongside trophies won the home teams. Many local people were probably involved in the construction of the first power station, and many more will be involved in the next one.
We rarely tell these stories of construction. But I often wonder, who built this, what were their stories, what were their hopes for this enormous thing as they built it?
