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| Superman makes his descent from the tower |
Nearly one hundred fundraisers abseiled down Derby Cathedral last weekend in support of the local Mountain Rescue Team and the cathedral itself, raising around £14,500 in pledges of sponsorship.
The rescue team had set up an abseiling platform at the top of the 212ft tower of the cathedral, the second highest in the country and invited members of the general public to raise sponsorship to support both the team and the Derby Cathedral Charity, which supports projects connected with the cathedral.
Despite some very windy conditions on the Saturday, most abseilers commented how much they had enjoyed the experience, even though many had been very nervous before putting themselves in the hands of the experienced rescue team.
Among the adventurous participants was a partially sighted man, who bravely climbed the steep narrow stairway to the top before stepping off the edge of the tower, even though the night before, he had asked his wife exactly what abseiling was as he was unsure what he’d agreed to do. Another woman was celebrating her 40th birthday by taking part, having completed the challenge previously when the team had held the event four years earlier. The Sunday also saw the characters of Superman (see above) and Scooby-Doo make the descent in full costume, much to the delight of several children in the audience gathered below. One abseiler from Rolls Royce in Derby managed to raise close to £1700 in pledges by taking part.
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| Diana Cunningham from Smith's Clocks about to set off |
This text and images have come courtesy of the Derby Mountain Rescue Team's website. Follow this link for more details of last weekend's fantastic fund-raising abseil. (Had we thought about it we could have got one or two of them to nip around the back and sort out our droopy camera for us! Nick M.)
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| The crowd look on. |
50 comments:
That looks a fabulous day, I might have turned up with more notice, and may be done an abseil myself! hehe
glad it all went well and plenty fundraising, well done to all involved and of course the abseilers
Phoebe
I just popped in before bedtime and see a peregrine disguised as a corbel below the scrape and more to the right than usual. I almost didn't see her/him lol
just to add... looking at the drooping camera view, the top of the peregrines head is visible below the scrape (3rd corbel from the left)as if it knows it is visible from there and not from the usual (first corbel along) hehe smart birds!
Morning..... Friday 23rd 8.45.... Both Mr and Mrs P on show looking wonderful....one on the scrape and one on the tower....We were in Derby yesterday and both Mr and Mrs P were on Jury's Inn (still think we should get some money from that hotel chain for the advertising) ... x
Has someone been window cleaning? The view from tower cam looks very bright!!!
Jane: Nick M cleaned the camera over the weekend and it is SO much better. More (good)news about Nick shortly....
Nick B (DWT)
Two peregrines were on the large Jurys Inn lettering as I left Derby Cathedral this lunchtime. Glorious sunshine, too.
Hi.... Mrs P (I think) was on the nest this morning scratching round for ages...I fully expected to see an egg appear..must be something to do with this Indian summer. The camera lens look wonderful Nick you can come and do my windows.... x
Hi all Went down to see the Peregrine's today Wednesday they were both on the East face sunning themselve's below the Scrape one on the right and one in the showdows on the left I took some shot and you will find them on the Derby Cathedral Peregrine Pictures Flickr page.
I hope you enjoy them
Regards Ian "AKA" superbrad
Thanks Ian...keep 'em coming!
One on the nest platform this morning sunning itself.
Amazingly hot here in Derby yesterday and due to get hotter over the next few days - I wonder what the birds will make of it?
Nick B (DWT)
The tower cam is lovely and clean now, thanks for cleaning it! I see the birds are very active today, I just missed a feed but can see birds in flight around the tower. I took a few minutes sat in the garden watching a Nuthatch drinking from my half-barrel with lily in it, it's the first time I have seen the Nuthatch for quite a few months now so I was delighted!
Thursday 6pm...Mr/Mrs P ??? on the tower...up close and personal looks wonderful... x
Lovely clear view of an adult in front of the pudding cam. I think it's got prey between its claws & is having a snack.
Oh dear .... looks like there has been an argument. 11.00 pm and Mr and Mrs P are up by (the very clean) pudding cam but sitting very deliberately with their backs to each other. Hopefully harmony will have returned by the morning ...
Hi all I spent some time in town on Monday The resident pair sat on the east face of the Jurys Inn Some shots are now on the Groups Flickr site.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/derbyperegrines
More from the day can be found on my Peregrine Flickr site.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/superbrad-/
Hope you enjoy them
Regards Ian
AKA superbrad
Morning..... Watched the highlights of the Derby/Leicester football match on tv and at the end they showed a young peregrine sat on the roof of the stand.... think it was one of ours flown to Leicester to watch Derby (shame about the score) xxx
Here is a link to some nice footage of the peregrine at the Leicester City ground - do they follow the Rams to away matches?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-15149039
@Rachel What a brilliant video clip. At last - a sports program with something interesting!
(only kidding, sports fans)
Nick M.
Thanks, Rachel & Mo. What a treat!
And well done to the BBC camera man. Perhaps he's a Peregrine fan too. Certainly did a very good job.
Oh for a camera like that !
@ mo thanks for the heads up on the match footage.
@ Rachel Thanks for the link to the video.
Regards Ian
Fabulous photos Superbrad!
The video is amazing, thanks to the cameraman!
A good close up on the tower of Mr or Mrs P.
Many thanks for the comment Phoebe.
Regards Ian "superbrad"
Morning.....8.30am Wednesday... Mr and Mrs P on the tower having breakfast...looks a better day than yesterday x
The news you promised about Nick? I presume it is that he has his site rights back as I see he is publishing as project member Derby Museum. If thats the news - FANTASTIC!
Our webcameras are not functioning this morning (18th October). This is caused by a network failure of Derby City Council's entire systems, on whom we rely.
As this has taken down the whole council's website, we're confident the fault will be rectified very quickly indeed!
Kerry: Yes, some good news in that Nick M is now helping the DWT and the other partners to try to secure the project’s future. It’s early days but we will report as and when any significant developments occur.
He is still signing in as Project Member Derby Museum although he is not employed by the museum as you know. He may change this designation soon.
The museum has made a welcome financial contribution towards securing the future of the project but its role is inevitably less active now than it was..
The Wildlife Trust is taking the lead now, trying to put the project on a firmer financial basis and get some staff in place for next summer.
We’ll tell you more as things develop but for now, rest assumed a lot of research and background work is taking place, exploring how we can develop the project and get new income streams. We are keen to gather evdience from people about how they benefit from using our webcams, and there'll be a new post on this shortly.
Nick B (DWT)
Falcon on the scrape, what a lovely sight!!
Peregrine on a corbel beneath the scrape.
I'm getting impatient to hear this good news about Nick M.!
re my last comment: it seems to be there still.
AnnieF: see my earlier comment re. Nick M. He's now putting a lot of effort into the project, in close liaison with Tim Brooks at DWT and with me. We hope to apply for a grant within the next month or so though we won't know the outcome until the new year.
Nick B (DWT volunteer)
Thanks, Nick B., encouraging news that all of you are in this together( excuse the ironic adaptation of that(in)famous quote.)
There's a peregrine on the tower, having its breast feathers ruffled by the wind. Looks like an adult.
AnnieF: hi: I think any peregrine you see now will be either the falcon or the tiercel, to use falconer's terms. We've not seen any of this year's youngsters for quite awhile now, as you would expect. They've moved away now.
For newcomers to this project, the adult birds will stay around the cathedral throughout the winter, in effect, protecting their nest site against any intruding peregrines looking for a place to set up home.
You will see one or other of them from time to time since they use the tower for roosting and feeding.
Nick B (DWT)
Looking forward to hopefully hearing some good news regarding the way forward for this fantastic project.
Driving home through Derby I regularly see two peregrines on the lettering for Jury's Inn.
Looking forward to next season and all best wishes to everyone involved.
Mary T (Belper)
Sat 9.30am....Mr and Mrs P on the tower.... we have seen one or both at least once a day all year... it has been a very good year.... Like Mary T we are looking forward to next season..x
I have been missing the peregrines but today at work I had an up close and personal encounter with Angel, a Harris hawk and a peregrine/cross! I work at the Royal Derby Hospital and the falcons are helping to scare away the pigeons. What a lovely way to spend my lunchtime :-)
Mary T (Belper)
Seconded, Mary T. !!!
@ Mary T:
I meant, of course, that I second your earlier comment - I forgot that there could be other comments in between, which might (and did) make mine seem a bit eccentric!
Don't worry Annie - it's nice to know there's someone else out there still following the blog!
Will look forward to speaking to you again soon.
Mary T (Belper)
Did somone call for an eccentric?
No wonder it's quiet here when we have bloggers who spend their lunch breaks chasing pigeons...
:D
Hi all I went down to see the Peregrines today Tuesday 1st Nov they were both on Jurys Inn one on the letter "U" and one on the "I" on the east face "River side" of the hotel They made quite nice shots as one was almost directly below the other. A great sunny day for watching the resident pair some photos now on the Blogs Flickr site and also found with others at:--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/superbrad-/sets/72157628030984626/
Regards Ian
Super pictures, Ian.
I hope everyone takes a look at them by following your link at http://www.flickr.com/photos/superbrad-/sets/72157628030984626
It begs the question: Are peregrines really above the letter of the law? The Jury's still Inn on that one.
(groan)
Sorry to all
The shots I have uploaded this time some are a little on the dark side. They were Upped from my laptop.
Well thats my excuse ( blush & blush more)
When I viewed them this morning I decided they are not up to standard so I have done some quick work on them.
The 94 modified shots of the day can be viewed via a slideshow at the link below.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/slideshow/581738762LTyOCa
Mouse over the band at the bottom of the picture to see the controls.
Click a picture and it will stop the slideshow and open a new window this allows you to click on the picture to view it full screen.
Click on the original window to to restart the slide show
Regards Ian
Fantastic photos Ian, I quite often see them perched up there on the lettering (trying not to run into the car in front!).
Terry, I am not allowed to access the blog at lunchtime so have to go out in search of other peregrines :-)
Mary T (Belper)
Project Member (Derby Museum) - are you the person I think you are?
@Annie F.
Well, I'm certainly the person that I think I am, so if that's the same person that you think I am, then the answer is yes, I think.)
Nick M.
Hurrah, Nick M. is back!!! Now our "family" is complete. And there's a peregrine on the scrape. It doesn't look wet - didn't Derby get any rain this afternoon?
Thanks Mary
the comments are appreciated.
If you or other members are interested more shots of that day can be found at :--
http://community.webshots.com/slideshow/581738762LTyOCa?mediaPosition=1
I hope to get down again next week.
@ Nick or Nick is there any update on the camera situation ?
Regards Ian "superbrad"
astonishing cruelty
A bit off topic I know and those of a very sensitive nature should perhaps not click the link.
:(
@Ian
It won't be possible to fix the drooping camera until early next season, I'm afraid.
For reasons I won't go into in detail, I'm currently unable to get the personal liability cover to abseil down and fix the camera myself. However, we have had a very kind offer from a local rope access company willing to do this work for us, so we'll probably arrange a single abseil in January or February to sort everything out.
More news on this to follow shortly - plus a request for your input, too.
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