Just Call Me Walker
“Just call me ‘Walker’…it’s the name I go by.
I’ve been diving and working on big ships, over in Portsmouth for many years, now. It’s a profession that I seem to have taken to like a ‘duck to water’….hahaha. But it’s one that has looked after me and paid me well. I’ve serviced many naval contracts as well as ship building contracts for Siebe Gorman over in the port. I even oversaw work on the fortress rock of Gibraltar….that was a wonderful experience and a beautiful place.
Now I’ve been given a strange request. Apparently Winchester Cathedral needs my help. The Dean and Chapter have approached me and would like me to take a look at a ‘sinking’ problem that they have.
Like so many churches, the cathedral is built on poor land and floods regularly. The crypts are permanently under water and the entire building is collapsing. They would like me to take a look and see what I can do.
Hmmmmmm……?
Well I’ve had a look at the great church in Winchester and it’s a sorry mess. The authorities have agreed to provide everything that I’ll need to prop it up…..yes, that’s what I said….’prop it up !’
I’ve agreed to go down and dig some pits under the great supporting walls, fill them with concrete bags and then help to pump the water out. Then I can set about creating stronger foundations, all along the walls of the South and Eastern sides.
It’ll be a huge task….. several years, for sure. The first thing I have to do is make some of my own transportation arrangements. The cathedral is seventy miles from my home and I must be home at the weekend….. perhaps I can treat myself to a new bike.!”
William Walker was a man of his time. Britain had undergone an industrial and social revolution, so ‘ordinary’ people like him could become ‘extraordinary’, in the public eye. Between 1906 and 1911 he successfully ‘propped’ up two sides of the cathedrals wall. Numerous accolades followed and today he is memorialised by a lifesize bust that sits within the cathedral. Today, thanks to him, you can step down into the crypt and enjoy a view of another piece of art….one created by Sir Anthony Gormley…. My favourite contemporary piece, called Sound II.
This is a ‘must do’ when visiting SW England
https://www.seymourtravels.co.uk
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