Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 17
Stiller Warehousing and Distribution
transport the huge logs 60 miles from
Bedale in Scarborough to Harrogate.
STILLER IN POLE POSITION
FOR GREAT YORKSHIRE SHOW
Stiller Warehousing and Distribution was in pole position
to help the Great Yorkshire Show go ahead in July.
The family firm was commissioned
to transport two 125ft-long logs from
Scarborough to the show in Harrogate,
which was expected to attract around
135,000 visitors.
The poles were being used for against-theclock climbing competitions during this
summer’s festival.
Pole climbing competitions were staged
over the three days, and saw competitors
from across the UK race against the clock
in a bid to beat the world record.
The Guinness Book of Records lists
Australian Mark Bryden as establishing
the record for climbing an 80ft pole in 9.61
seconds which he did in 2001.
The poles were kindly donated by Dawnay
Estates and were felled in the Wykeham
Estate near Scarborough.
The trees are from a 71-year-old stand of
Douglas Fir, planted in 1943, and were
chosen so that once the branches have
been removed there is a clear stem for
climbing of 85 feet above the ground (40 ft
below the ground).
Stiller, based on Aycliffe Business Park,
had the unenviable task of transporting
the logs 60 miles to the Harrogate-based
showground on a hyper-extending, self-
steering trailer before they were trimmed
to create an 85ft climbing height.
Stiller’s site and facilities manager, Herbie
Blaser, was in charge of the operation.
“It wasn’t the most run of the mill jobs,
”
he admitted. “But we’re asked to transport
all kinds of weird and wonderful things
up and down the country, so we’re well
positioned to deal with an abnormal load
like this.
”
The show’s PR Manager, Judy Thompson,
added: “The poles form an integral part of
the show, creating a formidable skyline.
“They’re also used for the hugely-popular
pole-climbing competitions over the three
days when climbers will be desperately
trying to set a new world record.
“These new logs replace the existing
poles which had come to the end of their
useful lives and will now stay in place to
be part of the Great Yorkshire Show for a
number of years.
”
The Dawnay Estates are owned by the
12th Viscount Downe who have a strong
connection with growing trees, not
particularly as part of the Forest, but with
producing semi-mature trees, hedging and
shrubs as part of their business; Wykeham
Mature Plants.
Show director Bill Cowling watching as climbing
poles are craned into position in readiness for the
2014 Great Yorkshire Show.