Prior to BS1129 it was amazing what you could do with a few bits of Buffalo thorn tree, string and a handful of helpful assistants.
What would have happened if this particular “ladder” below had failed? Poor string, unseasoned and overly knotty Buffalo thorn wood, an amateur design – it could all so easily have come crashing down and the chap at the top…well, not good news for him!
Anyone recognise him, funny hat, binoculars, standing heroically at the top of the ladder?
Same man – Winston Churchill inspecting a landing craft in 1945 – two years after the BS1129 standard was published. Look at those mortise and tenon joints in the ladder. And the wire re-enforcements. Made from the finest Hemlock. All in accordance with BS1129…mmmm, not so sure. Winston was so much safer (or not!).
Here he is again – obviously thought he looked good on a ladder. It made him look…well….taller.
We were quite lucky things didn’t take a turn for the worse in his earlier pre standard ladder escapades. Pre-standard ladders (and a subsequent fall from height for poor Winston) could have changed the course of English and world history!