The Highland Fling
October 24-26 continued

SATURDAY, SUNDAY, MONDAY: Back to the site, in cold and blustery weather. Work continues on building the base for the fixed trebuchet, rounding and carving the wheels, and weaving the rope nets to be used for flinging the projectiles. Hewing and shaping of the oak arm for the hinged machine continue, and Jim Kricker and Wes Quinlan also turn their attention to carving the arm from the Doug fir log for the fixed trebuchet.

After a week of working in bone-chilling, mucky conditions, one of the timber framers asked Martin and Frank for a hot tub. She returned that evening to find a tub atop her bed, shampoos, soap, and towels, neatly arranged round it.


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Key: (50) Mike Goldberg and Nils Rossner (of Germany) work on rounding one of the 4 wheels on the base for the fixed treb. (51) Andy Smith, veteran of the VMI trebuchet project, is put in charge of the net weaving. (52) Andy, Marie Brown, and Chase Cooper working on the net. (53) The film crew records work on the net by the bundled-up forms of Andre Mullen, Chase Cooper, and Marie Brown. Michael Barnes, left, is director of the NOVA program. (54) The projectiles await. (55) WGBH Associate Producer Marti Louw tries out the boring machine. (56) Derwyn Hanney displays a medieval-looking tool. (57) Eric Westergard hand bores a hole. (58) Jim Kricker checks a measurement. (59) A row of hewers -- Wyly Brown, Nils Rossner, Henry Russell, and Steve Lawrence -- work on the 49' oak arm for the hinged machine. (60) Ellen Gibson directs helpers Laura Neary, Susannah Kricker (Ellen), and Maren and Carrie Speck in molding the clay pots to be used by demolition and Greek fire expert Sidney Alford. (61) Jean Whelan and Susannah Kricker carve a Celtic design into one of the wheels for the fixed treb. (62) The not-quite-hot tub, resting for removal in front of the Abbey.

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