Viewing 34 posts - 1 through 34 (of 34 total)
  • Anyone else going to see the Didcot Cooling Towers get blown up tomorrow night ?
  • ashmonkey
    Free Member

    Should be a sight

    mikemorini
    Free Member

    Going to be between three and five in the morning.

    wrightyson
    Free Member

    [video]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ztP4cDdy83o[/video]

    Be ready!!!

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    No way ! It remains a standing joke that I always look for them when coming through the cutting on the M40

    motivforz
    Free Member

    Planning on going up onto the Ridgeway to watch it!

    JulianA
    Free Member

    I drive to Milton Park every day. No way I’m going to do it on a weekend. I’ll watch it on YouTube at my leisure on Sunday!

    ourmaninthenorth
    Full Member

    No way?! They represent a part of my childhood – first as a young child being fascinated with their size and shap and second as a teenager in the CCF flying a chipmunk round the skies above them.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    They gone now then?

    sheck
    Full Member

    I still can’t believe the rationale for blowing them up at night… Only explanation I’ve heard is fear of the spectacle distracting drivers on the a34 and causing crashes

    Would be a good view from Wittenham Clumps

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Didn’t hear anything in the night, can’t see from here as a massive hill is in the way.

    bikemike1968
    Free Member

    Bugger, they are my “only 1 hour from home” marker when driving back from up north. How am I meant to know now?

    Pigface
    Free Member

    Will be weird dropping down the hill to Childrey and not seeing the anymore

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    I thought only some were going, not all.

    skinnysteel
    Free Member

    Scheduled to go between 04:00 and 04:30 Sunday. Audible alarms to sound 15 & 10 minutes prior, with a gunshot 1 minute before to scare roosting birds. Yes, really. Number of road closures will be in place. Also, I am told a section of the 34 will be shut. Northmoor Trust are charging for car parking at the Clumps, likely to be busy, and on-road parking is impossible up there.
    I’ve suggested to the Mrs up on the Ridgeway by East Ilsley. I’ll be in bed. Take your bike & have an early morning ride after the action. Nice loop from the car park there, along the Ridgeway dropping down towards Cholsey then returning via lanes & bridle ways thru Astons, Blewbury, Hagbourne, railway line towards Upton, over to Harwell , under the 34 and then climb back up to the Ridgeway.

    JulianA
    Free Member

    I think it’s three of the six that are going.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    It makes sense they are doing this “at night” quite a few roads nearby and the railway too.

    st
    Full Member

    Jambalaya has it. I’m working with the demolition company on another job and we were discussing it earlier this week. Tomorrow will be the first “batch” with the others to follow at a later date/s.

    grievoustim
    Free Member

    Wow really?

    Grew up in wantage so those towers were a familiar sight

    I’ll definatelty be watching that on YouTube

    crashtestmonkey
    Free Member

    the towers feature on our ‘club’ jerseys on the grounds we’re local and wherever we ride we see them, I think a few of us will be out on the Clumps or nearby, not me though as I’m working this weekend.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Crashtestmonkey, are you a Didcot Phoenix CC rider?

    ashmonkey
    Free Member

    Found a spot with a good view, here with my lad. worryingly close.

    ashmonkey
    Free Member

    Still here, I just had a little kip.

    ashmonkey
    Free Member

    6 mins….

    mikemorini
    Free Member

    Down now. Various videos posted around the net already.
    Watched it from a corn field in Harwell with a couple of hundred other folk. Mrs Morini was quite upset. Always been part of her life growing up nearby.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    Haha guys cool you went to watch, photos / video links ? It must be weird they’re not there

    ashmonkey
    Free Member

    I’ll upload my vid when I get home, got as close as we could. Nice little boom indeed, it parted my hair !

    toys19
    Free Member

    Beeb vid here, not very straight collapse, makes one wonder if it was controlled demolition at all…

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f52gIOBiyKg[/video]

    ashmonkey
    Free Member
    maxtorque
    Full Member

    Unfortunately i missed seeing the demolition live, as i was “On the road” back from the Alps. I grew up in the shadow of Didcot living in the village of Harwell for 12 years. Personally, i liked the towers, although others were obviously less complimentary about them, but i think everyone came to undestand them as a Landmark of the area. As a kid, the occasional blanket of “power station snow” from the cooling towers was fun too. But, time and tide stand for no man, and the march of progress is inevitable really, so i guess they had to go!

    Markie
    Free Member

    We went to watch. I’ll miss them – glad there are still three to guide me home.

    pedalhead
    Free Member

    We were there. Cycled the few miles from home on empty trails, got to the Clumps at 3am and it had quite the atmosphere as clearly lots of people had been there all night (with beer & more!). Glad we got to see it as we have the cooling towers on our club kit 🙂

    konabunny
    Free Member

    Beeb vid here, not very straight collapse, makes one wonder if it was controlled demolition at all…

    Are you the guy that’s the 9/11 conspiracy theorist or is that someone else?

    CountZero
    Full Member

    I’m sure Toys could have done better! 😉
    Almost impossible to make structures of that shape drop straight down, I would have thought. They did drop into the main footprint area, though, as far as could be seen on the video, so a pretty neat job.

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Was up at the top by Harwell, but not till 7.45am, loads and loads of people camping/sleeping/partying up there. Didn’t have much excuse other than not wanting to bother getting up so early.

Viewing 34 posts - 1 through 34 (of 34 total)

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