WHEN it was built in 1888, the chimney of the wonderfully named Audley Destructor was the tallest in the country.

Standing 312-feet high and made of Accrington brick, the chimney cost Blackburn Corporation £2,550 to erect as part of what would now be called a waste-disposal plant.

It stood on Bennington Street on the banks of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal so that barges could bring in loads of material to be incinerated.

And even though there were around 200 chimneys on the Blackburn skyline when this picture was taken in 1955, it still dominated the landscape.

The white line is actually the ladder which went from ground to the top with snow trapped on the iron rungs.

It would take a brave soul to embark on that perilous climb, that’s for sure.

Sadly the Audley Destructor’s days were numbered and four years after this picture was taken, this once famous Blackburn landmark was pulled down - a task which took the steeplejacks far longer than they had expected, so sturdy was the old giant.