Hanging out with the Dersingham abseilers

Over 50 people abseiled the tower of St Nicholas' Church on Bank Holiday Monday to raise funds for accessible toilets and a new kitchen.

The 75 foot tower of the 14th century church proved no obstacle for the Dersingham community as people from all walks of life and aged between 14 and 85 took the plunge under the instruction of Rory Howard and his team from Howard Adventure Hire.

Look carefully and you can just see the brave abseilers at the top of the tower in this drone shot

Some of the 50+ abseilers on the tower

With his feet on the ledge Rev Mark takes last instructions from Rory Howard

Rev Mark Capron was first down at 10am, he said:"I deliberately didn't look down until I was about halfway; it looks a lot taller than its 75 feet from the top!" No stranger to the activity he's now abseiled five times, three in his previous parish of Pakefield, and more recently at St Nicholas' in October 2021.

Joel Capron on his way down

Joel (left) with Charlie Frammingham

It was Mark's son Joel's second abseil, now 15 years old, the Alderman Peel student was greeted by schoolfriend Charlie Frammingham as he touched down. "It was definitely a good experience, I really enjoyed it." He said.

Martin Holland

Retired teacher eighty-five-year-old Martin Holland admitted that climbing over the top was the hardest part, "I'm not sure I was built for this type of activity, last time I did it I was only eighty-two!"

From left: Martin Holland, Rev Capron, Rory Howard and Chris Pretty

Melissa Mc Sweeney.

First lady down was mother of two, Melissa Mc Sweeney. "I wasn't worried about it," she said, "you can see right over the Wash and it's sunny on the beach." Thirty-nine-year-old  Mrs McSweeney is a Client Relationship Manager for Allen Tomas & Co Financial Management whose offices are adjacent to the church in St Nicholas' Court. Melissa's boss Ben Allen was cheering her on "We are very proud of her," he said. 

Tilly Dinmore and Rory Howard

Hundreds of people attended the event that went on until 4pm and as well as the abseil event there were fundraising stalls in the churchyard and a book sale in the church.

Fundraiser, and one of the commentators on the day, Ian Bell, explained that fundraising prior to the event had reached just over £87,000 towards the total cost of £120,000. "We are well on the way and getting very close to being able to being able to get the work done; we're really hoping to raise close to £10,000 today.

Rev Mark with his certificate

Images by Ian Burt and Town and Around