The Calm before the Bang!

This evening the tallest structure in Scotland will fall as a controlled explosion will bring down the chimney of Inverkip Power Station.

The chimney rises 236m above sea level, which is higher than Canary Wharf in London.

Tonight the skies may obscure the spectacle but the impact of 1.4 million falling bricks and 20,000 tonnes of concrete will definitely be felt around this part of the Clyde.

The oil-fired power station was built during the Thatcher period to meet peak demand and provide flexibility to the electricity supply network but was never commercially operated except during the miners' strike of 1984/5 when it was required. The plant was kept as a strategic reserve until being mothballed in the late 1990s. Yet again another bureaucratic folly by our politicians.

It was all so quick at 10pm this evening when the chimney disappeared for ever. See my Blipfolio.