Long Eaton residents gathered to watch the demolition of an historic chimney making way for new homes after being warned to brace themselves for 'several explosions'.
Up until 2009, the site, which is bordered on one side by the Erewash Canal, was home to a number of mills buildings. They included the Britannia and Portland Mills, which were built in the early 1900s.
But a major fire, which started in a property formerly occupied by the mattress manufacturer Elson and Robbins, gutted many of the buildings on the site and almost all of them were demolished.
The only remnant of those mill buildings is the chimney, which has been used for the stationing of telecommunications equipment, along with some of the factory walls, which act as a boundary for the site.
And on Sunday, June 28 the chimney was flattened so the site can be redeveloped.
The explosion was not as dramatic, or loud, as predicted and a short bang brought the chimney down as people filmed the event on their phones.
Total Reclaims Demolition carried out the work on behalf of Woodsome Estates Ltd.
Erewash Borough Council gave the demolition work the green light back in April.
Developers have also submitted detailed plans to the authority to build 109 homes at the site.
This application is under discussion and a decision is expected by the end of July, the council confirmed.
Conservative MP for Erewash, Maggie Throup, previously said she was 'bitterly disappointed' at the loss of the historic chimney.
