Two old industrial chimneys set to be blown up in Coventry

The stacks are the last remnants of the Webster Hemming & Sons brickworks in Foleshill


One of the chimneys at the former Webster Hemming & Sons brickworks in Stoney Stanton Road

Two giant chimneys at a former Coventry brickworks are set to be demolished with high explosives.

And the contractors bringing them down are urging people not to panic if they hear a loud bang on Sunday, May 15.

Blucon Demolition is responsible for demolishing the chimneys, which measure around 210ft and slightly less than 100ft respectively.

They are the last remnants of the Webster Hemming & Sons brickworks in Stoney Stanton Road, Foleshill.

The factory closed its doors in the mid-1990s and the site is set to be used for new homes as part of the Paragon Park development.

Luke Howard from Solihull-based Blucon Demolition said around 200 letters had been sent to local residents alerting them to the demolition but said they were keen to let as many people as possible know as the explosion is likely to be heard across a wide area.

“We want to make sure the public are aware of what is going on so people don’t panic when they hear a loud bang and start battening down the hatches,” said Mr Howard, who is Blucon’s safety, health, environment quality manager.

Mr Howard said the explosives to bring down the chimneys would be detonated some time between 8am and noon.

An exclusion zone would be in place but most of it is contained within the former brickworks site.

There will however be a number of ‘sentries’ in place on the day to ensure no one can access the exclusion zone, which includes the former Webster’s Park, which is now closed.

In addition a short section of Stoney Stanton Road is set to be closed for 10 to 15 minutes when the demolition takes place.

During that time traffic will be diverted on to Leicester Causeway and Red Lane.

Mr Howard said they were also keen to ensure motorists travelling in the area on the morning are made aware of what is happening.

He said: “We don’t want drivers passing to panic when they hear a loud bang, get distracted when they hear it and look up to see a chimney coming down in slow motion, before going into the car in front of them.”

Mr Howard revealed an explosives expert will be called in to assist with the demolition process.

“A specialist guy, of whom there are only a small number left in the country, will come in and plant the explosives,” he said.

“We will meet with him on site next week and he will mark up exactly where the charges will go.

“We will then drill holes anything up to a metre deep - it is quite thick - and will put the explosives in the night before.

“Obviously we will have tight security in place until the following morning.

“Then, to put it bluntly we will just press the button - and boom.”

Demolition of giant chimneys at former Coventry brickworks stopped by council

The demolition of two giant chimneys at a former Coventry brickworks with high explosives has been put on hold.

The chimneys, the last remnants of the Webster Hemming & Sons brickworks in Stoney Stanton Road, Foleshill, were due to be knocked down on Sunday.

But an 11th-hour planning glitch meant the demolition had to be cancelled for the time being.

Blucon Demolition, the company responsible for clearing the chimneys, which are around 210ft and slightly less than 100ft high, had to hold fire.

A stop notice was issued by Coventry council’s planning and regulatory department on Friday.

Luke Howard, from Solihull-based Blucon, said: “On Friday afternoon Coventry council told us there was an additional planning issue which needed signing-off.

“We had done a radio check and a dry run at the sentry point.

“Unfortunately it was beyond our control but we are now waiting for them to tell us when we can go ahead and do it.

“Hopefully we are just looking at it being up to a couple of weeks and again we hope to do it on a Sunday between 8am and noon.

“We are just looking for a couple of boxes to be signed. As soon as we get a better idea we will let people know.”

Mr Howard, who is Blucon’s safety, health, environment quality manager, said the explosives that would have been used to demolish the chimneys had not yet arrived on site when the plug was pulled on the demolition.

He added: “The explosives hadn’t reached the site at that point although the chimneys were drilled and ready to go.”