I'm not good with heights, so I'm not sure if I envy anyone heading up to the top of the Forth Rail bridge. Mind you, it's a lift and the platform at the top is pretty big, so I could probably do this. Sadly, not something I'm likely to get the chance to do, but at least we can go there in video.
3 comments:
Phil
No such thing as the Forth Rail Bridge- it’s always The Forth Bridge
If I'm being brutally honest, I doubt if I'd be able to cope with getting out of the lift at the top of the Forth Bridge - even with a safety harness.
Unfortunately, I'm not joking.
Some years back, I did some industrial training in the power generation industry. On one occasion, I was in a group visiting a nuclear power station that was nearly ready to receive its first load of fuel rods - so it wasn't radioactive - but it was possible to see inside one of the reactor cores - all very fascinating.
We'd gone up the side of the reactor building - about 50 metres in a hoist (don't look down) - walked across the concrete floor of the reactor hall (studiously avoiding the enormous hole at one end, through which all manner of stuff would be cleaned in).
Finally, we came to a ladder, down to a landing, around a sealable aperture, through which fuel rods would be fed a few days later.
When offered the chance to look inside, the rest of my group eagerly clambered down the ladder. I tried several times - but was paralyzed with fear each time - and just couldn't manage it.
OK - the guys I was with were great about this stuff - but I still have regrets 34 years on.
A number of years later, I even recall being scared walking on the deck of Newport's George Street bridge (as usual, the pedestrian walkways are at the sides of the deck) - the drop from here to the river Usk is a fraction of the bridge's 52m overall height.
I think it's fair to say that I'm terrified of heights. I think I'll leave the "climbing bridges" malarkey to people who know what they're doing and who are comfortable with it. I'd just be a liability.
I was meant to abseil from there last year for a local charity but sadly my shifts changed and I wasn't able to, hopefully there will be another time.
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