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Christ Church, Clifton - damage in 2015
In March 2015 the top of the spire of Christ Church, Clifton, Bristol ST5773 : Christ Church, Christchurch Road, Bristol was damaged in high winds. Following an inspection in April, the spire was deemed 'dangerous', and the church had to be closed for a time.
Expensive repair work got underway in the autumn, although rather surprisingly the church was 'open for business' much sooner. The steeplejacks were 65 metres (210 feet) above the ground, not a working environment which would appeal to many, and had to reach their workplace by vertical ladders fixed to the outside of the tower and spire. I was slightly surprised by the former, as most towers have interior stairs, but presumably these were too narrow for the transport of all the necessary equipment.
The scaffolding was in place by the end of October (probably earlier), and remained there until at least November 20. Unfortunately I was away in early December, but by Dec 16 it had been dismantled to the extent that only the lowest level of planking remained. The following day even that had gone, and so the steeplejacks were reliant only on ropes from the upper 'collar'. By the next day (Dec 18) everything had gone, "in readiness for Christmas" as a passer-by put it to me. I still remain somewhat baffled as to how they removed the last collars without letting some poles hurtle to the ground.
The rope seen in some photos was used to lower poles and other material from the spire to the nave roof: it would clearly have been deemed too dangerous for men to descend that way!
The vertical ladder up the tower seems to be a fixture. The slightly off-vertical ladder up the spire has been removed (except for the lowest section which is well hidden by turrets, and is presumably useful on the rare occasions when it is necessary to re-fix that ladder).
Expensive repair work got underway in the autumn, although rather surprisingly the church was 'open for business' much sooner. The steeplejacks were 65 metres (210 feet) above the ground, not a working environment which would appeal to many, and had to reach their workplace by vertical ladders fixed to the outside of the tower and spire. I was slightly surprised by the former, as most towers have interior stairs, but presumably these were too narrow for the transport of all the necessary equipment.
The scaffolding was in place by the end of October (probably earlier), and remained there until at least November 20. Unfortunately I was away in early December, but by Dec 16 it had been dismantled to the extent that only the lowest level of planking remained. The following day even that had gone, and so the steeplejacks were reliant only on ropes from the upper 'collar'. By the next day (Dec 18) everything had gone, "in readiness for Christmas" as a passer-by put it to me. I still remain somewhat baffled as to how they removed the last collars without letting some poles hurtle to the ground.
The rope seen in some photos was used to lower poles and other material from the spire to the nave roof: it would clearly have been deemed too dangerous for men to descend that way!
The vertical ladder up the tower seems to be a fixture. The slightly off-vertical ladder up the spire has been removed (except for the lowest section which is well hidden by turrets, and is presumably useful on the rare occasions when it is necessary to re-fix that ladder).
Created: Fri, 18 Dec 2015, Updated: Fri, 18 Dec 2015
10 images use this description: (all images taken in 2015)
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