Nelson's Column - Climbs

Climbs

John Noakes of the BBC TV children's programme Blue Peter climbed the column in the late 1970s. TV presenter and entertainer Gary Wilmot climbed the column in 1989 for LWT's 'Six O' Clock Show' to recreate the 'topping out' ceremony of 1843. Dressed in Victorian attire and sporting a boater hat, Wilmott enjoyed tea and sandwiches at the top of the column before climbing down. Peter Germenis of the United States also climbed in 1976, reportedly on a pub wager. The column has also been climbed on several occasions as a publicity stunt to draw attention to social or political causes. Ed Drummond made the first such climb in 1979 for the Anti-Apartheid Movement, making use of the lightning conductor en route. On 13 April 1995 Simon Nadin free-climbed Nelson's Column with Noel Craine, Jerry Moffat and Johnny Dawes following on top rope, and graded the climb as "E6 6b/5a". This protest time was on behalf of Survival International to publicise the plight of Canada's Inuit people. In May 2003 BASE jumper and stuntman Gary Connery parachuted from the top of the column, in a stunt organised by Isabel Losada, to draw attention to the Chinese policies in Tibet.