Mr. Maurice Tate at the foot of the chimney. A previously unpublished image.

Steeplejack Maurice Tate this week began work on the tallest job in Burnley - demolishing the 232ft.chimney which towers over the Cleansing and Transport department in Centenary Way. By yesterday afternoon most of the spidery ladder which Mr. Tate and his demolition crew will use had been placed in position, ready for the assault on the top. But the hundreds of tons of stones and bricks will not start tumbling down until cooling equipment at the base of the chimney has been removed. There will be a noticeable reduction in the height of the chimney over the next fortnight -weather permitting. But afterwards it will be a slow tedious task.

"It will probably take the best part of a year to complete the job because we will only be able to work on it at weekends," explained Mr. Tate. "There are so many people knocking about the yard, and lorries coming and going, that it would be dangerous to work on it on weekdays." However, during the next fortnight, when the department is slack due to the holidays, Mr. Tate is hoping to make good progress in removing the heavy coping stones at the top. The first major task is the removal of the cooling equipment, and then the brickwork will be showered down the chimney itself. Mr. Tate is no stranger to the chimney. Twice before he has climbed to the top on repair and maintenance work.

The chimney, which measures 77ft. 4in. in diameter at the base and 9ft. at the top, was completed in 1903. It is being demolished because it does not now comply with smoke control regulations and even if expensive conversions were carried out, there is no guarantee that the plant would conform with the regulations.

From an article in the 11th July 1967 Express - Industrial Skyline -The Old And New Style Version: No negatives found so scans from the paper are used:
In a period when a start was made on the demolition of Burnley's tallest chimney, it is appropriate to be reminded that much still remains to be done in the removal of these towering blots on the local landscape. The panoramic view above, taken at the Burnley Paper Works premises from the top of a chimney which has received its death sentence, looks across the railway arches at Calder Vale and spotlights the need for a big clean-up. The war on chimneys in Burnley is chiefly aimed at those which are no longer in everyday use. But at many factories the chimney is still indispensable. One consolation, however, for better or worse, is that it is becoming rare to replace the old chimneys by brick structures. Instead modern fabricated methods are being used as typified at Burnley Paper Works, where the chimney for a new oil-fired boiler plant is made of mild steel, with aluminium external cladding.

The shiny new 120ft. chimney was erected recently in just a fraction of the time it took to build Burnley's tallest surviving chimney - the 232-footer at the Cleansing and Transport Department, Centenary Way on which demolition preliminaries were started last week. The newest chimney was made by a Bamber Bridge firm, J. Watkinson (Engineers) Ltd. and was brought to Burnley in three sections. Our other picture shows the final section being placed into position - next to the old brick structure, which is to be demolished.