Yet another great symbol of the industrial revolution bites the dust in Burnley this week on land off Healey Wood Road. Pre-development is to take place on the site, a former textile mill. The mill has disappeared under the bulldozer, only the chimney remained. Who better to fell it than Mr. Maurice Tate, local steeplejack, who has been dropping mill chimneys throughout the district for more than 30 years. He's lost count of how many he has felled, but modestly puts it at "well over a 100".
But this one presented special difficulties, mainly because of the enormous stonework in its foundations. Propping called for extra strong timbers and burning them away for the felling took about 1 and a half hours, three times the usual period. But when it dropped, it was spot on target across the cleared mill site.