Knowle Hospital's 40-metre-high water tank weighing 200 tonnes and the two specially hired 500-tonne cranes which bodily lifted it.

The 120-foot chimney which was dismantled brick by brick during the course ofa week, using our high-reach cradle.

• The 120-foot brick chimney which also had to come down was another subject for serious thought. In consultation with Health & Safety officials we recommended that the best technique would be the use of, a high-reach cradle. This was agreed, and three men worked in shifts to dismantle the chimney, brick by brick, using an air chisel - dropping the bricks down the shaft, which was cleared each night by a JCB. Just for the record, the job took one week at a rate of 5-6 metres per day.
  
  
• Specialised demolition is a surprisingly complex activity at which we excel. Our highly trained staff and our emphasis on Health and Safety really come to the fore, along with our heavy equipment which we maintain meticulously.
  
  All of this was well employed when we were challenged by the demolition tasks at Knowle Hospital, near Fareham. An enormous 200-tonne water tank perched high on a steel framework had to be removed, and we concluded the only way that safety could be guaranteed was to lift the tank bodily and lower it gently to the ground. Using two 500-tonne cranes (worth £2 million, and costing £25,000 to hire), and after three weeks of thoughtful planning and preparation, the job was done in 20 minutes! (We raise our hats to the engineers who got it up there with their archaic equipment at the end of the 19th century!)