A humorous TV documentary about statues presented by Danny Baker was recently broadcast on BBC4. It included a cringe-inducing excerpt from 1977 about "Blue Peter" presenter John Noakes joining a team of steeplejacks (statuejacks?) to help remove some 6 cwt of pigeon guano from the upper parts of Nelson's Column (169ft/51metres high) in London. Access consisted of a temporary vertical ladder roped to the main vertical column and then an overhanging section of ladder onto the plinth which supports the statue of Nelson. Those using such access had no ropes or harnesses whatsoever and thus were reliant on personal hand and arm strength to avoid an inevitably fatal fall from height. The anti-fall measure for everybody on the plinth, including John Noakes and Terry the cameraman, evidently consisted of simply holding onto natural fibre (probably Manila) ropes tied around the statue's base. Access for cleaning the decorative stonework below the plinth involved simple (wooden-planked?) "bosun's chairs" suspended by natural fibre ropes on pulleys. No helmets were evident and there seemed to have been little or nothing to keep spectators away from the base of the statue during the cleaning project. Furthermore, it was originally broadcast on a flagship TV programme for the entertainment and (misguided) edification of children. One wonders if it provoked any sensible reactions from anyone at the time or simply reinforced a common perception that steeplejack type activities were inherently dangerous and exempt from any safety requirements! A short excerpt from the clip showing John Noakes negotiate the overhang can be seen at http://www.virtualtenby....o.asp?About=Nelson's Column&HD=MrnuhrqVN1M Those keen to see the whole excerpt can currently watch it on BBC iPlayer (starting at 19:21 and lasting over 3 minutes) at http://www.bbc.co.uk/ipl...eries_2_British_Statues/ One purpose of this thread is to make a suggestion that the excerpt could be useful as an OS&H training exercise, i.e. to identify and discuss the risks and what sort of precautions could have been provided. These include the health risk posed to those involved in the cleaning work with nothing to prevent their hands becoming visibly soiled with guano! :-( At http://www.virtualtenby....o.asp?About=Nelson's Column&HD=Ata6gW5NX7E there is a clip about another project to clean Nelson's Column although its date seems unclear. However, compared with the 1977 project featuring John Noakes, that project had far better regard for safety in the form of full scaffolding around the column plus hoardings to keep members of the public at a safe distance. Another purpose of this thread is to pose the following questions: Does anyone happen to know how often Nelson's Column is cleaned? If fine netting is now fitted to help keep pigeons off some parts of the monument, this may help to reduce the frequency and/or extent of cleaning needed. Also, are MEWPs (mobile elevated working platforms) with sufficiently long-reaching telescopic/hydraulic arms available and feasible for projects of this sort nowadays? p.s. My initial intention was simply to mention the John Noakes video excerpt in a posting on the thread "Work at Height for Steeplejacks" recently started by hilary. However, swelled by information found on the internet, the posting above evolved to become more appropriate as subject of a new thread. p.p.s. By way of a lexicological digression the female equivalent of a steeplejack is presumably a steeplejill. However, in order to avoid being gender-specific, perhaps the correct term nowadays is steepleperson ! :-)

Some say the good ol' days when people were fearless. Ho hum. I notice that the 'supervisor' also had a fag on.

Graham Piece about maintaining a much larger statue. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26354918