Comments on: Diver Bill

Diver Bill

chuckdarwin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:40:14 -0800

Wearing an old-fashioned diving suit, William "Diver Bill" Walker worked in 14 feet of murky water beneath Winchester Cathedral, digging out the old timber and peat foundations and replacing them with bags of concrete cement and concrete blocks. Staying underwater six hours per day for five years (1906-1911), Diver Bill moved 25,800 bags of concrete and laid 114,900 concrete blocks, saving the Norman building from certain collapse.

via BBC's brilliant radio 4 programme, Making History

By: moonmilk

moonmilk — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:06:43 -0800

What a job! Thanks for posting this.

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:06:45 -0800

Good man.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:09:01 -0800

Wow.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:09:26 -0800

Wooooooo.

By: chuckdarwin

chuckdarwin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:14:23 -0800

They said on the radio that he worked without gloves in freezing water and only came to the surface to warm his hands and avoid frostbite... there were other wrinkles as well, but there's not much about him on the web.

By: M.C. Lo-Carb!

M.C. Lo-Carb! — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:14:37 -0800

From the wikipedia link: He had to work six hours a day in complete darkness as the water contained floating sediment and was impenetrable to light. hopefully he had a book on tape or something.

By: Dizzy

Dizzy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:17:39 -0800

Amazing man. He was also, according to the Wiki entry, King George V's diving instructor.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:20:27 -0800

That is one crazy job. Wow. Great post.

By: absalom

absalom — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:29:06 -0800

This guy died to the FLU? What a pansy!

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:33:04 -0800

Good God what a job. When I worked concrete laying we were off to brew a cuppa in the van at the first sign of a shower.

By: BobFrapples

BobFrapples — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:44:25 -0800

This guy died to the FLU? What a pansy! Not just any flu, my friend... the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918.

By: billder

billder — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:44:40 -0800

Stud.

By: Grangousier

Grangousier — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:45:56 -0800

absalom, I don't know to what extent you're joking, but the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 killed more people than World War I. Think less a really bad cold, and more The Black Death.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:46:45 -0800

They just don't make 'em like that anymore, nosireebob!

By: jlowen

jlowen — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:50:19 -0800

He had to work six hours a day in complete darkness as the water contained floating sediment and was impenetrable to light. Do you think it was complete darkness or do you think he have a small light to illuminate immediately in front of him and it was just dark all around? How would you do masonry work without sight at all? Just by the feel of it?

By: mullingitover

mullingitover — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:00:37 -0800

During his time working at Winchester William Walker cycled home 150 miles to Croydon each weekend to see his family. I thought he was cool, but it turns out he's one of those damned hipster cyclists. BobFrapples writes "Not just any flu, my friend... the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918." As an added bonus, Spanish Flu is suspected of triggering cytokine storms which made those with stronger immune systems more likely to die. The dastardly virus turned his own badassitude against him.

By: small_ruminant

small_ruminant — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:04:31 -0800

Wow! What an amazing guy! jlowen- yes, just by the feel of it, judging from my limited experience in silt and mud. In SCUBA training we would put pipes and other construction projects together on land before trying it underwater, so that we could do it blind once we were underwater. You could not see your hand in front of your face even.

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:10:01 -0800

cycled home 150 miles to Croydon They were all that tough back then though - was reading about one lad (name escapes me) who climbed a lot of the early routes in Snowdonia. He'd do a full week at his job in Manchester (iirc), cycle off to North Wales for the weekend, scale some tricky cliff faces then cycle back Sunday night to clock on for the Monday morning.

By: bigskyguy

bigskyguy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:13:01 -0800

One of the better historical landmarks to visit in England, imho. The water table still rises visibly in the church's lower confines. The remains of monks from the nearby monastic settlement some 1,100 ago, if I remember the tour guide's remarks correctly, are buried in one section. The water covers their crypt for parts of the year, and they have erected a statue which seems to be suspended atop the water there. Quite stirring. Then there's the building itself, showing its Catholic roots and Protestant remodeling. And don't forget the flag stones which mark the burial spots of people in the church's floor, including Izaak Walton, Jane Austen and William II. A highly recommended visit.

By: Artw

Artw — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:32:25 -0800

Also the Round Table. OK, not THE Round Table.

By: zerobyproxy

zerobyproxy — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:44:40 -0800

Noooooooooooooobody expects the Spanish Influenza!

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:46:09 -0800

They did similar work on one of the temples that was flooded by the Aswan Dam. They sent divers down with lifting bags to disassemble an arched gate that was too far away from the main temple (which was surrounded by a cofferdam and pumped out in order to move it). I can't figure out which temple it was though...

By: Hogshead

Hogshead — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:04:27 -0800

There's a memorial to Walker in the cathedral. I can't find it online but the inscription is beautifully written, making the point that he literally saved the building with his bare hands.

By: everichon

everichon — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:47:18 -0800

This is fascinating, I had never heard of this person or his work. Unimaginable. Great post.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:27:46 -0800

Great story. WTH!

By: Slack-a-gogo

Slack-a-gogo — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:33:58 -0800

I can't believe I've never even heard of this until now. What a crazy story about a pretty amazing guy. I even like the story about the wrong statue linked in the Wikipedia article.

By: parki

parki — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:37:06 -0800

"He had to work six hours a day in complete darkness as the water contained floating sediment and was impenetrable to light." Luxury.

By: amyms

amyms — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:54:22 -0800

What a great story!

By: darkstar

darkstar — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:43:56 -0800

LOL, parki! :D

By: darkstar

darkstar — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:47:05 -0800

Also from the Wiki: He married his second wife, sister of his first, in 1907 and had several children during the time he worked at Winchester. Dude. *bows in respect*

By: altman

altman — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:51:30 -0800

has anybody checked on his work? i mean, what if he just stacked those bags up against a wall and sat down for the rest of the day? just asking ...

By: altman

altman — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:52:34 -0800

but seriously ... i am impressed. they don't seem to build cathedrals or men like they used to.

By: hadjiboy

hadjiboy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:52:48 -0800

They don't make 'em like they used to, for sure! Oh, great, quit reading my mind--altman!

By: biffa

biffa — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 03:55:51 -0800

Bloody Normans, they come over here stealing our jobs, they're nothing but bloody cowboys.

By: eritain

eritain — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:29:40 -0800

There is no chin inside Diver Bill's helmet. There is only another concentration of awesome.

By: Artw

Artw — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:40:35 -0800

No gods, no kings, just Diver Bill.

By: atchafalaya

atchafalaya — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:44:38 -0800

I had a three-and-a-half hour bottom time in about eight feet of water last January and I was nearly dead afterwards. I can't imagine six hours a day stacking cement bags for five years.

By: tomble

tomble — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:22:45 -0800

This guy died to the FLU? What a pansy! Well, it was the style at the time.