Tuesday 15th Sept, 11:00 am
Holy Trinity in Hull is no ordinary church. This one is 150ft high (that’s 15 storeys), with the only internal access to the upper levels a 163-step spiral stone staircase designed for hobbits. Since FF didn’t see fit to give me a crew from Middle Earth (I have the hair for it, but I need to work on the ears and feet), we had to find another way of getting the pyro and kit onto the East and West roofs and up to the top of the tower. That way was Paul Kelly. And a rope. Paul single-handedly hauled everything we needed up to where it needed to be (and then lowered it down again after the show). As a result, he now has arms which would qualify him to audition as a Troll, so we’re getting there !
Then there were the bells (the bells !). And the clock. No chance of not knowing the time on this job ! The trick was not to be in the tower staircase when the clock struck the hour, and we didn’t always manage it. Never mind, we got the display rigged and fired OK, though I was a bit concerned about the big fountains on the tower – rigged as they were on stakes wired to the parapet, they resembled nothing so much as giant rockets, and I had visions of one of them taking flight out towards the Humber and giving the barge crew something of a surprise !
And of course we had the best view in the house, Paul probably having the best of all, from the top of the tower. Once we had fired, we settled down to watch the rest of the show. And it was spectacular - well done everyone ! And very special thanks to my crew (Paul and Jackie) for all their ecclesiastical efforts !
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4 comments:
I thought that 'Dick Budgen' was code for 'I am a hobbit'.
All the same, the hard work was worth it as the Church looked spectacular from where I was and a credit to your teams hard work and Steve's design. Rino
PS. What would you rather... a spiral staircase 150ft up or a broken lock gate ?
Not sure Rino..... but now from experience, would probably opt for the staircase!
Well done to everyone involved and especially to Steve for a spectacularly designed show.
Agreed - we knew when we were rigging it would look very good - excellent design.
My arms were fine but it took 3 days for me knees and legs to start working again !! Thanks for the nice comments Dick.
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