diff --git a/nowcasting_dataset/config/README.md b/nowcasting_dataset/config/README.md
index 7fa4f249..c92b7a92 100644
--- a/nowcasting_dataset/config/README.md
+++ b/nowcasting_dataset/config/README.md
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ See `model.py` for documentation of the expected configuration fields.
 
 See either `gcp.yaml` or `on_premises.yaml` for example config files.
 
+All paths must include the protocol prefix.  For local files,
+it's sufficient to just start with a '/'.  For aws, start with 's3://',
+for gcp start with 'gs://'.
+
+
 # Example
 
 ```python
diff --git a/nowcasting_dataset/config/load.py b/nowcasting_dataset/config/load.py
index 23f46b9b..dc230c35 100644
--- a/nowcasting_dataset/config/load.py
+++ b/nowcasting_dataset/config/load.py
@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
 """ Loading configuration functions """
-import io
 import logging
-import os
 from typing import Union
 
 import fsspec
-import gcsfs
 import yaml
 from pathy import Pathy
 
@@ -33,36 +30,3 @@ def load_yaml_configuration(filename: Union[str, Pathy]) -> Configuration:
     configuration = Configuration(**configuration)
 
     return configuration
-
-
-def load_configuration_from_gcs(
-    gcp_dir: str, bucket: str = "solar-pv-nowcasting-data", filename: str = "configuration.yaml"
-) -> Configuration:
-    """
-    Load configuration from gcs
-
-    gcp_dir: the directory where the configruation is saved
-    bucket: the gcs bucket to load from
-    filename: the filename that will be loaded
-
-    Returns: configuration class
-    """
-    logger.info("Loading configuration from gcs")
-
-    bucket_and_dir = os.path.join(f"gs://{bucket}", gcp_dir)
-    filename = os.path.join(bucket_and_dir, filename)
-    logger.debug(f"Will be opening {filename}")
-
-    # set up gcs
-    gcs = gcsfs.GCSFileSystem(access="read_only")
-
-    # load the file into bytes
-    with gcs.open(filename, mode="rb") as file:
-        file_bytes = file.read()
-
-    # load the bytes to yaml
-    with io.BytesIO(file_bytes) as file:
-        data = yaml.load(file)
-
-    # put into pydantic class and returns
-    return Configuration(**data)
diff --git a/nowcasting_dataset/config/model.py b/nowcasting_dataset/config/model.py
index 22c89704..0580c219 100644
--- a/nowcasting_dataset/config/model.py
+++ b/nowcasting_dataset/config/model.py
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
-""" Configuration model for the dataset """
+""" Configuration model for the dataset
+
+All paths must include the protocol prefix.  For local files,
+it's sufficient to just start with a '/'.  For aws, start with 's3://',
+for gcp start with 'gs://'.
+"""
 from datetime import datetime
 from typing import Optional
 
@@ -152,11 +157,7 @@ class Sun(DataSourceMixin):
 
 class InputData(BaseModel):
     """
-    Input data model
-
-    All paths must include the protocol prefix.  For local files,
-    it's sufficient to just start with a '/'.  For aws, start with 's3://',
-    for gcp start with 'gs://'.
+    Input data model.
     """
 
     pv: PV = PV()
diff --git a/scripts/validate_ml_data.py b/scripts/validate_ml_data.py
index 74c960b4..fa291cda 100644
--- a/scripts/validate_ml_data.py
+++ b/scripts/validate_ml_data.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 import nowcasting_dataset
 import torch
-from nowcasting_dataset.config.load import load_configuration_from_gcs, load_yaml_configuration
+from nowcasting_dataset.config.load import load_yaml_configuration
 from nowcasting_dataset.dataset.datasets import NetCDFDataset, worker_init_fn
 from nowcasting_dataset.dataset.validate import ValidatorDataset
 from nowcasting_dataset.cloud.utils import get_maximum_batch_id
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 
 # load configuration, this can be changed to a different filename as needed
 filename = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(nowcasting_dataset.__file__), "config", "gcp.yaml")
-config = load_configuration_from_gcs(gcp_dir="prepared_ML_training_data/v5/")
 config = load_yaml_configuration(filename=filename)
 
 DST_NETCDF4_PATH = config.output_data.filepath
diff --git a/tests/config/test_config.py b/tests/config/test_config.py
index 66afe7d2..15571b93 100644
--- a/tests/config/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/config/test_config.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 import pytest
 
 import nowcasting_dataset
-from nowcasting_dataset.config.load import load_yaml_configuration, load_configuration_from_gcs
+from nowcasting_dataset.config.load import load_yaml_configuration
 from nowcasting_dataset.config.model import Configuration, set_git_commit
 from nowcasting_dataset.config.save import save_yaml_configuration
 
@@ -87,7 +87,9 @@ def test_load_to_gcs():
     """
     Check that configuration can be loaded to gcs
     """
-    config = load_configuration_from_gcs(gcp_dir="prepared_ML_training_data/v-default")
+    config = load_yaml_configuration(
+        filename="gs://solar-pv-nowcasting-data/prepared_ML_training_data/v-default/configuration.yaml"
+    )
 
     assert isinstance(config, Configuration)