IT was the controlled explosion that wasn’t quite as controlled as everybody had hoped.

For the best part of half a century, Moredon Power Station was a major feature of the Swindon skyline.

Long before the David Murray John Tower rose to dominate the town centre, the power station had its 170ft cooling tower and 230ft chimney.

The station had been commissioned in 1929, and for many years powered the Railway Works. By 1973 it was seen as inefficient and the old state-owned Central Electricity Generating Board shut it down.

The cooling tower was felled by demolition specialists’ explosives in March of 1979, and the chimney’s turn came that July, almost exactly 36 years ago.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan.

The Adver reported: “A giant cooling tower was sent crashing to the ground in Swindon today - in the wrong place!

“Red-faced officials watched as the 230ft chimney at the old Moredon Power Station corkscrewed off target, crushing a boiler house.

“And that wasn’t all. Part of the 840-ton structure remained virtually intact after the blast.

“‘It’s going to be difficult to tidy up,’ one official admitted. ‘It’s difficult to be accurate with concrete structures. At least it’s down safely.’”

We added: “One victim of the demolition was a young fox which had been living on the site.

“After the big bang it ran out of the rubble, terrified.”