Old pics 2

[Andy R]

rupes old pics thread has inspired me to dig out a disc I had with some pics from when I first started climbing...

 

quick bit of history, it's a huge sycamore at Birdlip and I'd been working with the firm for about a year as a groundsman. We started by felling the back stems out over the back of the garden down into a small valley and clearing with the tractor/winch and then moved onto dismantling the stems over the garden side. We had a lad with us who had started at the same time as me but had been climbing for a different firm for a while beforehand. Our main climber at the time, Phil, started it off and after lunch on the 2nd or 3rd day (memory is fuzzy) the boss asked the lad if he wanted a go...he didn't fancy it and turned it down and I just knew the gaffer would then turn to me and ask...I'd already made my mind up to grab the opportunity with both hands..(proud moment for me) I had done the odd garden tree, small acacia's, cherry's etc but nothing with any girth to it. On with the pics...words can't express how much I enjoyed this job, and the looks/thumbs up the boss and Phil were giving me...good times.

[Andy R]

onto the dismantling..

[Andy R]

last couple..Some good memory's, some good lads...

 

sorry I don't have a full log of the takedown, but seems to be the way with my photo collection..

 

also thats Phil doing his "thankyou very much" at the end of the day...

[Rupe]

Which company is that?

 

Not to be be picky but on the first pic after "on to the dismantling" it looks like you've removed your best anchor point?

[Andy R]

Which company is that?

 

Not to be be picky but on the first pic after "on to the dismantling" it looks like you've removed your best anchor point?

 

Stuart Blunsom Tree Care...It does look like that but it's set back, it was used however to dismantle some of the trunks...

[Rupe]

Not heard of him! Birdlip is very near me though.

 

Just re read and reaslised it was your first major climb, good work, I shouldn't pick holes in it. Just remember the thumbs up from the boss is his way of saying I don't have to climb so much now!

[Andy R]

Not heard of him! Birdlip is very near me though.

 

Just re read and reaslised it was your first major climb, good work, I shouldn't pick holes in it. Just remember the thumbs up from the boss is his way of saying I don't have to climb so much now!

 

People picking holes in it is one of the reasons for sharing these pics...feel free to do so, I won't take anything to heart.

 

He used to work for Roy Finch a loooong time ago..

 

Looking at them again it does look like the best anchor point was taken down first, but some of the tops on the outside were felled out, trunks dismantled, and the right hand group of stems were all completely lowered off a different anchor point as the rear lawn was right underneath. It's a while ago now so can't remember the specifics...just the butterfly's.

[Rupe]

Sometimes if the front stems can be felled out then they make the best anchor points for everything else as they are over clear ground. Then you fell them last.

[Andy R]

Sometimes if the front stems can be felled out then they make the best anchor points for everything else as they are over clear ground. Then you fell them last.

 

absolutely. All the stems leaned out and away from each other, they were so far apart that using the centre stem for the lower larger parts of the trunks and felling the tops of the outside stems or catching them below the feet was how we did it at the time. I'll be honest, and it's probably clear to see from my pics, that our rigging was probably not up to the standard that is on display on this forum.