Another old building meets the wrecking ball

Where: There aren't any buildings to the right of the photo, which makes me think it was taken somewhere along Connaught Road. Does anyone recognise the newer building in the background?

When: The heavy clothes suggest some time in winter, and the back of the photo confirms it. This is one of our newer photos, taken in early 1977:

Who: Brave or foolhardy? Zoom in for a closer look at the photo and you'll find several workers standing on the old walls, none of which look very safe. You can find this group just above the 'lo' of the watermark, standing on a narrow ledge. It's all that's left of the second floor:

What: They're demolishing the building in a simple way, swinging a heavy weight into the walls to smash them down.

You can imagine that's not so practical when space is tight, and the ball could swing into the next building by mistake. Here's a photo I took in 2009, showing how they prepared to demolish a building that was wedged in between two other buildings:

The crane delivered this excavator, and another similar machine that had a large pneumatic drill attached, to the roof of the building. Together they worked back and for across the building, slowly moving downwards as they nibbled away at the building. Eventually they reached ground-level, by which time the building was totally demolished, and the rubble had been carted away.

Does anyone know if this is standard practice for all demolitions now, or is the old wrecking ball still used where space allows?

Regards, David

Reference: HB006