Demolitions at Power Station, IBM, Babylon and Inchgreen

In a booming start to the month, here are some pictures showing some dramatic moments I caught on camera when some giants of Inverclyde were laid low.

Pic1: With little more than the wail of a siren as warning of the coming detonation, timing was the key to catching the moment the twin explosions brought about the destruction of the iconic Inverkip Power Station chimney in 2013.

Pic2: In the March of the same year the power station chimney was demolished, three of the four muti-storey blocks that stood on Greenock's Belville Street were brought down in a tightly choreographed chain of detonations. Peebles, Melrose and Selkirk Courts came down simultaneously, with Hawick Court being taken down the following year.

Pic3: Although not as dramatic, the demolition of the much-loved Babylon nightclub in Greenock caused quite a stir on our social media platforms. Tele readers posted some entertaining comments about the good times they had in the Egyptian themed venue.

Pic4: Part of the Greenock waterfront landscape for many years, the Inchgreen Dry Dock cranes were toppled in 2017 by controlled explosions around their base. The lofty steel structures fell to the ground screeching and groaning, leaving only a cloud of rust hanging in the air.

Pic5: A pile of twisted steel and rubble was all that was left of cavernous IBM storage modules when we visited what was left of the plant back in 2009. Our tour offered up this dramatic view of what was the beginning of the end of the giant computer assembly plant.

Now, well over a decade on, the site is barren but earmarked for a housing development.