# The Death of Hallam Tower (up-dated 11-10-17), Sheffield, September 2017



## HughieD (Oct 3, 2017)

*The Death of Hallam Tower (The End 14-10-17), Sheffield, September 2017*

*1. The History*
Done this before so you can find it all *HERE*. 

*2. The ‘Explore’*
Kicking myself that I never went round this place while it was do-able. Then all of a sudden got the tip-off from my mate that it was being demo’ed. What follows are a series of pictures documenting the demolition of Hallam Towers. There’s probably another week’s worth of work to be done so will add to this report as it reaches its conclusion.

*3. The Photos*

24th June 2017
Before the demo started


24-06-17 no2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


24-06-17 no3 by HughieDW, on Flickr


24-06-17 no1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

6th September 2017
A few days into the demo. Work starts on the north wing


06-09-17 no1 by HughieDW, on Flickr


06-09-17 no2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


06-09-17 no3 by HughieDW, on Flickr


06-09-17 no4 by HughieDW, on Flickr

10th September 2017
Four days later and the progress isn’t too dramatic


10-09-17 no1 by HughieDW, on Flickr


10-09-17 no2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


10-09-17 no3 by HughieDW, on Flickr


10-09-17 no4 by HughieDW, on Flickr

13th September 2017
Just three days after the previous pictures and the south wing is all but gone too…


13-09-17 no3 by HughieDW, on Flickr


13-09-17 no1 by HughieDW, on Flickr


13-09-17 no2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


13-09-17no4 by HughieDW, on Flickr


13-09-17 no5 by HughieDW, on Flickr

17th September 2017
Four days on and both wings are now gone:


17-09-17 no1 by HughieDW, on Flickr


17-09-17 no2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


17-09-17 no3 by HughieDW, on Flickr


17-09-17 no4 by HughieDW, on Flickr

26th September 2017
Can’t remember why I took so long to go back. Bit of a gap between these and the earlier shoot. Now half on the central part’s façade is gone.


26-09-17 no1 by HughieDW, on Flickr


26-09-17 no2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


26-09-17 no3 by HughieDW, on Flickr


26-09-17 no4 by HughieDW, on Flickr

30th September 2017
Four days on again and real progress made:


30-09-17 no1 by HughieDW, on Flickr


30-09-17 no2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


30-09-17 no3 by HughieDW, on Flickr


30-09-17 no4 by HughieDW, on Flickr


30-09-17 no5 by HughieDW, on Flickr

More up-dates to come!


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## MD (Oct 3, 2017)

nice to see Kid acne still holding on  
thanks for the update i did enjoy exploring this a good few years back !


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## Sam Haltin (Oct 3, 2017)

Going, going, going a bit slowly but disappearing. A nice update.


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## Brewtal (Oct 3, 2017)

Sad to see a demo in progress, but really nicely captured as is your usual standard. Nice work for putting the leg work in, you gave the old girl one last dance! Cheers!


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## Potter (Oct 4, 2017)

I like how you can see the lift stuff.


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## Mikeymutt (Oct 5, 2017)

You have been documenting this place well hughie.shame it's going before you got in.but that's progress I guess


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## HughieD (Oct 7, 2017)

Mikeymutt said:


> You have been documenting this place well hughie.shame it's going before you got in.but that's progress I guess



Cheers Mikey. Up-date coming soon!


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## odeon master (Oct 7, 2017)

you'd have thought they would have exploded the bottom out on this one, or is it real close to other houses?
What a dump, better that mess is out the way


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## krela (Oct 7, 2017)

odeon master said:


> you'd have thought they would have exploded the bottom out on this one, or is it real close to other houses?
> What a dump, better that mess is out the way



Cost of demolition with explosion... hundreds of thousands.

Cost to eat away at it with a long reach arm... some diesel.


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## HughieD (Oct 8, 2017)

UP-DATE:

2nd October 2017
A few days on from 30th September and now all of the façade tiling is gone:


02-10-17 no3 by HughieDW, on Flickr


02-10-17 no4 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And the central stair-case gone too:


02-10-17 no2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


02-10-17 no1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

7th October 2017

Was expecting more progress than this as was the site worker who I spoke to on the 2nd. He said it would be done by the end of the week but he was being a bit over-optimistic:


07-10-17 no3 by HughieDW, on Flickr


07-10-17 no1 by HughieDW, on Flickr


07-10-17 no4 by HughieDW, on Flickr


07-10-17 no2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


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## Sam Haltin (Oct 8, 2017)

Still going, going but not gone yet. I wondered why explosives were not used, but as I can see from your photos, residential houses are too near. Nice update. I'm looking forward to the shot with a bare horizon.


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## HughieD (Oct 8, 2017)

Hugh Jorgan said:


> Still going, going but not gone yet. I wondered why explosives were not used, but as I can see from your photos, residential houses are too near. Nice update. I'm looking forward to the shot with a bare horizon.



Cheers Hugh. That picture should be with you by the end of the week!


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## Dirus_Strictus (Oct 9, 2017)

odeon master said:


> you'd have thought they would have exploded the bottom out on this one, or is it real close to other houses



All one gets if the ground floor is blown is a flattened ground floor, with all the other intact floors sitting on the rubble. You could have wired up every floor and then blown in quick sequence, from bottom to top - however you still require the hydraulic nibbler to cut up the resulting heap of reinforced concrete, and as Krela states - very expensive in preparation and explosives. One side of my family run a demolition business. A major concern is when you find the actual reinforced structure does not follow the architectural drawings you had been presented with when you tendered for the job. Mostly hidden behind block walls etc, some of these 'alterations' can cause a massive re-think or at least a delay whilst one checks the figures. In my student days, summer vacations mostly consisted of drilling holes for explosives or lugging gas bottles and cutting torches around. 

Hughie - Another very nice set of images!


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## krela (Oct 9, 2017)

Dirus_Strictus said:


> and as Krela states - very expensive in preparation and explosives.



and insurance, and security, and managing people.

Is there anything your family doesn't do?


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## smiler (Oct 9, 2017)

Whoever planned the demolition did it well, you have documented its demise beautifully, I hope you're around to record it's end. Proper Job, Thanks


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## HughieD (Oct 9, 2017)

krela said:


> Is there anything your family doesn't do?



Lol. Think the Strictus Family have all bases covered!


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## Snailsford (Oct 9, 2017)

Nice one hughie, you’ve been there all along through its journey!

Props to you good sir, and awesome pictures.


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## HughieD (Oct 9, 2017)

smiler said:


> Whoever planned the demolition did it well, you have documented its demise beautifully, I hope you're around to record it's end. Proper Job, Thanks





Snailsford said:


> Nice one hughie, you’ve been there all along through its journey!
> 
> Props to you good sir, and awesome pictures.


Cheers both. Think there's probably two more visits left is this!


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## Dirus_Strictus (Oct 10, 2017)

krela said:


> Is there anything your family doesn't do?



I have a very large paternal family base, which due to circumstances - wars, business partnerships, travel and farming have always had to keep in touch with each other via various means, and thus I have a very large and interesting family archive and know my family background. No different to most people on here really, if you all do a bit of searching! It is all down to being in the right place, at the right time, as far as I can see from what I have read in the archive. The crawler crane and the big iron ball was the standard tool of the demolition boys for years, but if the British Army had taught you to blow up enemy fortifications, why not carry on using your new found skills with explosives in peace time and give the family business another string to its bow? As to what we don't do - unfortunately any attempts to mint money seem to be well outside our grasp!


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## smiler (Oct 10, 2017)

krela said:


> and insurance, and security, and managing people.
> 
> Is there anything your family doesn't do?



I've had a few interesting chats with DS via PM and he is a wealth of information and anecdotes, he knows explosives especially black powder, I love a chance to read his family Journal's,


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## krela (Oct 10, 2017)

Dirus_Strictus said:


> No different to most people on here really, if you all do a bit of searching!



I have researched my own family tree, all but one branch were farm labourers from pre ww2 going all the way back to the 1700s. Explains a lot!


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## smiler (Oct 10, 2017)

krela said:


> I have researched my own family tree, all but one branch were farm labourers from pre ww2 going all the way back to the 1700s. Explains a lot!



Yeah me too, farm labourers, miners and Irish tinkers, maybe that explains something


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## Sam Haltin (Oct 11, 2017)

My line goes back to Soldiers, Boat builders, mill workers and a Sailor. I've only gone back to the beginning of the 1800s. Isn't it interesting when you research your family history.


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## HughieD (Oct 11, 2017)

11th October 2017
Four days later and the job is all but complete and Hallam Towers, as we know it, has gone...


11-10-17 no1 by HughieDW, on Flickr


11-10-17 no2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


11-10-17 no4 by HughieDW, on Flickr


11-10-17 no3 by HughieDW, on Flickr


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## Sam Haltin (Oct 12, 2017)

Not Hallam Tower anymore - more like Hallam bungalow. Still going, going.....


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## HughieD (Oct 13, 2017)

Hugh Jorgan said:


> Not Hallam Tower anymore - more like Hallam bungalow. Still going, going.....



Lol....one more up-date to come!


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## prettyvacant71 (Oct 13, 2017)

Excellent demo shots HD! Love the way bits of concrete cling to the metal reinforcing bars it makes it look really skeletal


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## HughieD (Oct 13, 2017)

prettyvacant71 said:


> Excellent demo shots HD! Love the way bits of concrete cling to the metal reinforcing bars it makes it look really skeletal



.....and dangerous!


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## HughieD (Oct 14, 2017)

14th October 2017
The End. The final pictures of Hallam Tower. They have now cleared it back to the concrete base. They will now build a new block on this base that is not totally dissimilar from the one they just knocked down, but with flats with higher ceilings rather than the lower ceiling hotel rooms there previously. Hope you enjoyed this demo-journey.


14-10-17 no2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


14-10-17 no1 by HughieDW, on Flickr


14-10-17 no3 by HughieDW, on Flickr


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## Sam Haltin (Oct 15, 2017)

Yep, that's it I can now see the horizon. Thanks for your continuing updates.


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## smiler (Oct 15, 2017)

Thanks for that Hughie, be nice to everyone it's replacement, Thanks


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