In Desperate times...My Silky saves the day!

[MWArb]

Hodge, this is it, college gets them because its free, not because they want or love it.. my thread will be bumbed today so as not to detail Pauls too much... His visit needs all the attention as it was a special day for all.

[Pete Hart]

To find a 16-20 year old with enthusiasm for work rather than Red bull and texting would be great

 

😁 hodge that made me chuckle!!

[silky fox]

I have many reasons for wanting to get into training but one is to help Martyn create a type of school of excellence....whittle out the cream. There is some great potential out there...I was influenced by some great climbers/arborists/tree surgeons from all around the world and had a couple of great teachers. I want to pass that on. If you remember Connor.Easily the most talented apprentice I have ever helped mould.He has gone from strength and lead climbing within a professional company.

[mendiplogs]

Hodge, this is it, college gets them because its free, not because they want or love it.. my thread will be bumbed today so as not to detail Pauls too much... His visit needs all the attention as it was a special day for all.

 

Hi MW I think what doing is great for all for the college the staff and all people go there to so well done paul 👍👍👍Thanks Jon

[MWArb]

Just found out that I can post the pictures from my day at Riseholme college! I've had a greasy wet morning and I'm covered in tree gunk so this is the first picture sent from my new phone and last until I get washed...It's my third Samsung due to tree related accidents and I intend to look after this one a lot better...Upon arriving at Riseholme Martyrn showed me the curriculum and introduced me to other members of the department then after a coffee we went to meet the students.There are many fantastic trees on site with varying climb difficulties and limb walks but this Oak was perfect to see how capable they were at rope/strop advancement with a bombproof anchor point and several great laterals.now I'm not a fan off shouting.it doesn't help to instill confidence and I'm very loud so battering someone's eardrums isn't my style. I save my volume for Emergencies only...This lad wasn't sure he could make it to the top let alone make it along the limb....He managed both very well....more pictures to follow later. The highpoint of my Career was being interviewed at Kew Gardens by Tony Kirkham......My day at Riseholme was on a Parr with that!

 

Ok, for me lets jump back to this.. talking of high point, this has to be one of mine.. I've watched Paul's thread from day one.

Back then a lurker not a poster, I was captivated by the sheer drive and enthusiasm this guy had for his work and life in general.

 

I'll not digress but needless to say I'd been hoping to at least meet Paul one day to say hi, perhaps at a show I thought.

 

Fast forward to visit day.. a couple of the students knew who paul was, they and I were quite excited. The rest had little or no idea and this day was a normal climbing day.

 

After watching young Connor on this very thread I knew Paul was made for this, so I decided to set this up to see him work first hand.

[geoff]

Haha cheers mate. Been a reader for a while but finally made the plunge and signed up thanks to silky Fox!

 

Your going to fit in here well, it's good to have a few characters, & you will add to the throng!

[MWArb]

I spoke to the group, introduced Paul and asked them all to make a huge effort to take something from the day. Then we headed to the trees..

 

On arriving I asked Paul if I could take a back seat, and watch him working his way... With that he was off.

[MWArb]

Star of the show..This chap (remind me of his name martyn...I had to learn about 20 that day) he didn't think he'd make it to the top....He did it.

 

The Star as you called him Paul was Troy.. Troy very much shows the role of college in our industry.. he joined us simply because his game keeping course elsewhere was canceled.

Now dare I say it, he may well make a great tree surgeon.. especially after Paul's lesson in shifting weight, rope management and most of all overcoming doubt.

[MWArb]

For this moment...when you know they are proud of themselves! Well done Megatron! (the nickname her fellow students gave her)

 

Talking of overcoming doubt.. Paul seems to instantly see where in their development a student is and then has the ability to gently help them through the next barrier within themselves, this is possibly true of a lot of instructors I'm sure (myself included I hope:001_tt2:) but this is about Paul

 

Meg here, is a fine example of that:thumbup:

[MWArb]

It's always great to climb with students..it's good to see them progress up the tree..Their changeovers and show various limb walk techniques and work positioning.

 

This is a part of the job that doesn't often happen .. Demonstrations are easy enough to do. Everyone can watch, but along with the neck ache its often hard to understand the dynamics of a shifted position or how a simple strop and maneuver can change the climb instantly.. these things we normally have to find out for ourselves or have it articulated from the ground simply because with a single instructor there is no chance to climb with one or two when a much larger group needs your time..

 

Paul and I both believe the "shadow climb" element has a big role in helping new climbers visualize solutions to climbing problems and I hope to include this far more in some way in the future... the logistics of it's inclusion I'll leave for later.