One Hundred and Seventy Six

City of Manchester Stadium, The Roof

structured chaos

I remember a night, many moons ago when Stepping Lightly had suggested the particular access up the mighty stadium. Myself and Scott initially dismissed it as mad, then again, the building itself is mad. It made perfect sense. The two scaled the structure over the summer during my absence from Manchester, Squatting would have been plausible and quite achievable in the position I was in, but none the less, Southwards would be my residence over the summer.

photo: scott

Upon arriving back, I'd been meaning to pay a visit. I imagined the access and indeed, still thought the two were mad bastards for attempting such a climb. I mean, It isn't your usual, find a fire escape, bop to the top and pop the door open job. It was infact a fully external climb, in the full view of anyone within the surrounding area, and the penalty for failure was a topic I avoided addressing like the plague. Thankfully.

silent grin

Some time later, Myself and the likes of Scott and Doc-T stood at the base of the Stadium. He outlined pretty much how the access worked, yet that was the easy part. Conjuring the courage to free climb a structure over 8 stories high with no protection takes a fair amount of mental preparation, For some of my friends, nervousness appears absent, who really knows. I shan't delve into the psyche of ones mind before doing something stupid.

photo: toothdoctor

Its not uncommon for some to tell you not to look down, yet I find myself always doing it. It used to freak me out, but now I quite enjoy seeing the ground appear smaller and smaller. I continued the climb suppressing the shankey leg. Shakey legs are more annoying than the uBer Lycra sporting climbers at Manchester's centre. Stepping on the roof was good and I walked over to the very edge. I paused for a moment and took in the surroundings, I leaned over, the buzz in my chest put a huge smile of my face.

le cleaners

Initially, the first thing that hit my mind was "fuck! the lights are on!". The second thought was in regards to how high, and how huge the stadium was. The noise from behind me was Doctor T, He walked over to the next beam and crouched over the edge. This was insane. Upon closer inspection, we found cleaners in the executive box. The lights must have been on due to the fact there was a game on the very next day. I took a few photos, the particular view of the pitch from our point would be highly sought after by the avid football fan. Unspoiled views of the entire pitch without having to turn your head, Good much?

photo: toothdoctor

Biggest shout's to Stepping Lightly for access, Shouts to Scott for the climb, Shouts to Doctor tooth. Damn I missed Manchester...

Peace, Paix, Xool,

Ends.