Lucy- 'Climbing Great Buildings'

The amazing abseil down through St.Paul's.

Another very eventful week on ‘Climbing Great Buildings’ (as it’s now titled) has come to an end. We’ve filmed at St.Paul’s Cathedral and New College, Oxford.

As I suspected, St.Paul’s was an amazing privilege and involved one of the most spectacular abseils I’ve ever done. Even though on Pabbay, there had been a 90metre free hanging ab which was very cool, there was something extra special about this one. Dr.J-Fo, myself and Ian Burton abseiled down from the inside of the iconic dome through to the body of the cathedral and it was incredible. It was about 270 feet, which in itself is a mighty drop and setting off from the top was awe inspiring. For Jonathan I think it was quite a feat of mental fortitude. It definitely took some inner strength and he handled it very well. I really tried to enjoy every second as we slowly made our way down. There were various pieces to camera that needed to be done on the way and Jonathan managed to keep it together to do these in a coherent manner. It really was a very special thing to do on such a famous building, to see all the artwork close up and have the unique view that we did; it’s something I won’t forget for a long time.

New College was quite a contrast in a way, as it’s a lot smaller. I didn’t have so much involvement on this building but it was fun. It’s nestled amongst Oxford’s history and as it’s a place I’m not familiar with, it was great to get a birds eye view on it. The architecture wasn’t particularly my cup of tea on New College and there was some long days as usual, so it was nice to get home back to Sheff.

Jonathan and I enjoying the awesome views from St.Paul's Cathedral

Climbing seems to be taking a back seat at the mo, the venues are placed mainly in the flatlands, so it’s not that easy to escape and touch rock. But hey, there’s a time and a place for everything.

The next few are Layer Marney, Burghley House and Blenheim Palace then up to Glasgow! So a good dose of the South East (admittedly not my favourite part of the country but it does get good weather), then a trek up to Scotland. I’m looking forward to a change of scene though and it’ll be nice to see the School of Art and Design building up there, it looks like an interesting structure to clamber about on.

I’m missing my pooch Kodo; she’s staying at my Mum’s for a bit, as Tim and I are both working away etc. As the shoots go on, it almost seems like it would be possible for her to be with me, as I have quite a bit of downtime and would be able to have her in the van then fetch her for a walk around the grounds etc. Maybe I’ll look into it, also Tim might be working on the rigging at Burghley, so it would be nice to have her there- we’ll see.

Not much more to report, I hope you’re all enjoying the great weather, it seems like we are actually having a proper summer for once. Although the schools have just broken up, so it’ll probably rain for the next five weeks as everybody tries to get away camping!!