This piece by sound artist Dave Howell describes a part of the Severn Vale landscape in which the presence of industry is powerfully palpable. The construction of the nuclear power stations at Berkeley and Oldbury-on-Severn in the late 1950s / early 1960s brought huge changes to the area. In a fascinating interview set alongside recordings inside and around the decommissioned station, Bill Gilll talks about working in the reactor and feeling the magic of the new science, tackling early problems with its efficiency, environmental concerns and the dramatic changes in accessibility from the open door policy of its early days to times of intensified security and armed police.

Bill Gill - metal bars and modern magic: power in the landscape at Oldbury-on-Severn

a forgotten landscape