There's some people in the sea... they think it's fallen over... it has now!
It has been a landmark for mariners for more than 60 years but it took just three seconds to come crashing down into the water.
The 105ft electricity pylon just west of Hayling bridge, in Langstone Harbour, was toppled by engineers yesterday having become redundant and rusty.
Modern technology means that Hayling Island now gets its energy from cables buried 90ft below Langstone Harbour.
The pylon had to be removed by engineers from Scottish Electric Power Distribution who cut through the legs and pushed it until it eventually collapsed in a matter of seconds at 2pm.
Once the pylon had fallen they tied it to a barge and dragged it out onto the slipway.
A small crowd gathered to capture the historic event on camera, including Commodore Nick Mason, from Langstone Sailing Club.
He said: 'In some ways it has been like saying a fond farewell to an old friend. It is one of the tallest structures around this area and sailors use it as a landmark so it is a little sad to see it go.
'On the other hand it will be nice to have a clear view as this is now a conservation area and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.'
Mr Mason paddled the engineers out on Tuesday when work began and watched from his boat as they climbed to the top to cut down the lines.
Sara Bartlett, from Scottish and Southern Electric, said: 'The crew are very happy with how it went.
'It'll be cut up into pieces and taken to scrap and almost certainly recycled.'
It took an amazing feat of engineering to enable the 8,100 homes on Hayling to get their electricity from underground. Engineers used remote technology to drill below the seabed and channel cables between the mainland and the island. It took five years worth of planning.
Brian Munday, from Hawthorne Grove, Hayling, watched from the shore. 'It's been interesting, although I was expecting a bit of a bigger splash.
'The harbour looks naked without it but it was old and rusty and had to go.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
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