May 4th arrived. The sun shone ( a sole day amongst three of heavy rain)

54 abseilers (dissenters as some called them) reached the ground, superbly directed, cajoled, encouraged by Dave Talbot and his wonderful team

Many spectatord on the ground were transfixed,at times unable to watch as one by one we managed to get over the parapet, get two feet on the wobbly bar before leaning back and beginning our descent. My elder grand daughter went before me. My legs needed to recover from the 170 spiral uneven steps of the ASCENT!. My second grand daughter eased my second leg over. (Somehow knee to nose does not happen so easily now!)

The Green had a festive atmosphere all day ,with market stalls, penalty shoot out , massage and demonstration of stonemasonry. It buzzed all day.

The Organ sounded the toccata of Bach out through the West doors , drawing people in to the treasures of the Archives,the flower arrangers displays, the fascination of the "soundscape artists " . A resounding performance of the Star Wars theme surprised and delighted, honouring International Star Wars Day as the sunshine beckoned again.

The exquisite new floor of the Quire sparkled and drew awe and wonder .

Thank you to the fundraising zeal of the abseilers , who lured thousands to part with vast sums of money. We will not know the final total until the middle of June. The just giving page keeps its hungry jaws open until May 31st.

At present it stands at over 43 thousand pounds.

The whole event has been thrilling and also humbling.

A HUGE thanks to organisers, customers, abseilers and staff. Such a joyous inclusive fun day.