20. The Icarus event
This was the name retrospectively given to one of the South Manchester Quad Night events, due to the accident that happened to Dave (Icarus) Holland. All four of the transmitter sites had been placed in steep valleys, or rocky gorges. The one in question was up north of Rochdale. The transmitter crew sited themselves in the bottom of the gorge, and laid the aerial vertically up the rocks and along a hedge on the top of the valley. Although the bottom of the gorge was hard and rocky, the upper section of the valley walls was shale at an angle of 45o. Growing from the shale and muddy walls were small silver birches. Also this upper section was traversed by animal tracks maybe 6" wide.
Dave had been tempted to the top edge of the valley, and soon followed the signal down towards the gorge. It was just then that his footing went from under him and he was launched in the gorge. Fortunately he landed on a bed of leaf mould that had fallen the same way, and lay groaning only 10’ from the transmitter and within sight of the crew. Obviously everyone was shaken up by the occurrence, and the crew went to his aid between transmissions.
Minutes later Chris Pummer followed the signal up the valley, slipped over when crossing the river on the mossy rocks and got a welly full of water. He then climbed up whence Dave had fallen, partly guided by Daves torch which was hung up in the Birches. Yells from below warned him to stay away from the shale slope, and when he got to the gorge bottom to get booked in. Cries from Dave Holland (still on his back) ‘Bloody Hell Plummers here, sign my form quick’.. Even in severe adversity the DF instinct shows through.
Chris gave up the event after only two sites, to help Dave, and after supper we insisted that the now gravely shocked and grey pallored Dave go to Wythenshaw hospital for a check up. They kept him in for three days with a cracked vertebra.
The next day Chris went back to the site and abseiled down to get Daves DF set and still glowing torch from the shale slope. On climbing back up to the field, a 5’ high Silver Birch sapling came out in his hands. He later presented Dave with the tree in a pot to remind him (if he ever needed reminding) of the day he flew.
From these flying experiences Dave has been renamed ‘Icarus’ (but then Dave only fly at night , his wings should not have been melted off by the Sun like the Greek mythology)