Eye - 24 October 2014

From zip sliding to unearthing history

Zip-a-dee-do-dah

Suspended by a harness, wind buffeting her face… September saw octogenarian Kitty Grove-Stephensen swooping across the sky on a zip line, dentures stashed securely in a handy pocket.

In 2012 Kitty, a Friend from Middlesbrough Meeting, did a zip slide off the roof of the former Baltic Exchange building in Newcastle to land across the River Tyne (see ‘Eye’ – 16 March 2012).

‘That was two years ago and during that time there has been no let-up in the questioning as to when I would do another adventure,’ she writes.

Kitty found what she was looking for at a new zip slide in Bethesda, North Wales, ‘claimed by the organisers to be the longest, fastest Zip in Europe. One mile long and attaining speeds up to 100 miles per hour. Nothing less was going to satisfy me!’

On ‘Z-Day’, 8 September, Kitty was kitted out with a windproof suit, harness, goggles, helmet and helmet camera before heading to the first of two zips of the day. The Little Zipper, taking riders to the heart of Penrhyn Quarry, was followed by a ‘bone-shaking’ truck journey to the start of the Big Zipper. Kitty’s group arrived at the start point, 438 metres above sea level, to the dulcet tones of Frank Sinatra’s ‘Come fly with me’.

Kitty described what happened next as they were ‘first secured to the apparatus then awkwardly getting into position face-down, with hands on the platform and feet higher up, the staff tighten all the harness until we feel trussed like turkeys for Christmas, arms back though not restrained… then three… two… one and they release you to the forces of gravity.’

‘Watching those going in front of you is daunting, as they are out of sight in the fewest of seconds. Then it is my turn and I’m off.

‘The running of the apparatus on the wire is noisy, as is the wind which seems to be threatening to tear off my goggles. I am tense, with nerves on edge. I see only the ground below. The speed appears to ease off as we fly over the lake (a quarry relic, said to have been at one time, the deepest man-made lake in Europe) and then, as we come more in sight of the landing area, the speed moderates even further. Remarkably, there is no jolt as we are brought to a complete halt. We are asked to hold onto a metal hook whilst we are guided back to the platform which is being raised for us, as before, unhooked and helped on our way to walk back to base. My flight had lasted fifty-five seconds.’

Kitty was raising funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. A cause close to her heart as her daughter is a sufferer and she has lost four family members to it. So far Kitty’s latest zip slide has raised £3,150, smashing her target of £2,500.

‘I was truly drained by the experience but have no regrets at having done it for a good cause.’

100 years and 150 miles

An unexpected find in a council skip triggered a detective journey for Berkhamsted-based John Beesley and his wife Donna.

Whilst John was disposing of steam railway magazines at his local recycling centre, he came across photo albums dating back to 1912.

John said: ‘The photos were unexpected and seemed to be of a private or public school without strict rules or uniforms, boys and girls in the same class and girls studying physics – all a hundred years ago!’

A lot of hard work and research tracked down the origin of the photographs – Norah Hudson, a student at Sidcot School between 1912-13 – and the albums have found their way back to the school.

John and Donna visited Sidcot to see the school for themselves and found some areas relatively untouched since the photos were taken: ‘I was amazed to find the oak tables and chairs, over a century old, still in their original room – the library. Their unmarked condition was astounding…

‘The dates and pupils’ names noted by Norah Hudson on the back of the photos were written just as the first world war was starting.’

What became of Norah Hudson is still somewhat of a mystery. Christine Gladwin, Sidcot’s archivist, is appealing for anyone with knowledge of Norah’s life after she left the school to get in touch by emailing christine.gladwin@sidcot.org.uk.

She added: ‘I was very moved to receive the photo album together with some watercolours which may also have been painted by Norah… I would love to know how her story ended.’

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