11
Cllr Martin Hill
Leader of Lincolnshire County Council.
In 2009 as the Crown Court
changed their mind about leaving the Castle and the economic situation
deteriorated he had to make the decision whether we could carry on.
Best moment - it's been fantastic to see the way in which the new-
look Castle has been received by visitors. I think all those involved
can be proud of what's been achieved. Not only have we created a
spectacular new tourist attraction for the county, but we've also ensured
that an important part of our heritage has been preserved for future
generations.
Most challenging moment - when the Crown Court decided to stay put,
it was a massive blow to our plans. However, we quickly came up with
a plan B and, by putting in an awful lot of work in a short amount of
time, soon got things back on track. And I think the end result shows
just how well the team dealt with what was a very difficult moment for
the project.
Doug Carstairs
Former secretary of Friends of Lincoln Castle (FOLC) and Governor
Foster in the FOLC Victorian Prison Group.
Best moment - Watching the vast changes going on inside the prison,
done with so much skill and dedication, and looking forward to utilising
the male wing for the very first time with the Victorian prison group.
Worst moment - Well maybe not the worst but having a seven foot
tall image of myself on the hoardings for the past year has been a little
strange!!
Most challenging - For the prison group - keeping our morale up inside
a tent for the past two years in all weathers.
Kim Vickers
Site Manager Lincoln Castle
My best moment has to be when the gates opened at 10am on the 1st
April. The team and I could see the cloud of confetti showering onto
the crowds of visitors outside. It really was a marvellous memory and
signified the start of another chapter in the Castle's history. I will never
forget that moment and I have the selfie to prove it!
The most challenging part of the entire project for me has to be the last
few months running up to our opening. I must admit that there were
times when I walked around the site and felt that it wasn't going to be
possible to be ready for April. There were groups of people in hard hats
and hi vis walking around the site in March! Everyone pulled together
and what was achieved in those last few weeks was incredible. I am
proud to have been part of such an amazing team.
Kim Vickers
Andy Tryner
Photographer
. Andy has been taking
pictures of the Castle throughout the
works. He likes to stay firmly behind
the camera, but at a Castle event, as
a keen animal lover he couldn't resist
taking this one on automatic timer and
little knew that I would spot it on the
end of a long shoot and save it up to
use here!
Perhaps the most technically difficult
and personally demanding part of
my role was the task of capturing an
atmospheric shot of the Castle in early
light, whilst the continuing building
work around the Observatory Tower
required non-photogenic scaffolding to
be in place. Not prepared to be beaten,
I repeatedly set my alarm for 4 am on
chilly November mornings and travelled
to the Castle, in the hope that the
weather would be kind and that the
scaffolding would have retreated far
enough to enable me to get the shot
that I needed. On the fifth attempt I
was rewarded, with the combination of
light, weather and building progress to
allow me to capture the early morning
winter sun rising over the silhouette of
the Castle.
I positioned my camera so that
shadows cloaked the remaining
scaffold and waited in the freezing cold
until the perfect image appeared in my
viewfinder. My worst moments during
the project occurred on the days when
my efforts were thwarted by cloud,
rain and scaffolding and I had to return
without the picture that I needed.
However, these were all forgotten
when I saw the successful image and
later, when I heard that it had been
chosen for the Lincoln Castle guide
book, this was my best moment and
definitely worth the pre-dawn alarm
calls and the freezing fingers and toes
on those dark November mornings.
Doug Carstairs
Andrew Tryner
Cllr Martin Hill