Event introduction...

Dying in 1739 and Flying in 2004

There are reports in The History of Shrewsbury published in 1825, that an unknown person in 1732 performed a feat of daring by sliding or flying down a rope from St Mary’s Church to the Market Cross

This may have been Robert Cadman, who actually performed this very act as a way of supplementing his living as a steeplejack. It seems like a very tall story, but it is true. Robert Cadman walked the 800 feet up the rope that connected the 222-foot high spire on St Mary’s Church from where the rope was fixed to the ground in Gaye Meadow. Climbing up the rope, performing tricks on the way, across the River Severn. When at the top, near the pinnacle of the spire, he then fastened on a wooden breastplate with a central groove for stability and hurtled to earth along the rope.

On 2nd February 1739 he plummeted to his death when the rope broke. His wife was waiting to collect the money that the ladies and gentlemen of Shrewsbury might kindly donate. When she was told that he ‘had been dashed to pieces’ she dropped the donations and ran to his body.

It is not known how many donations were made on the day that Robert Cadman died or what indeed happened to his wife.

On 11th July 2004, two hundred and sixty five years after the death of Robert Cadman, Shrewsbury is witnessing another daring flight. This flight will be as spectacular and as dangerous to the mind as the flights of Robert Cadman in the 18th century.

Time has dulled the human tragedy of Cadman’s death and his poverty into a strange myth. The vertiginous feats of Cadman somehow help to take the blood and death away, however the wonder still remains.

The wonder of flight. The apparatus for floating: the wing; feather; cockpit; tailfin. The mystery of flight: the swoop; the drop. The vertigo of being high in the sky.

Many children and adults dream of, or fear, flying or falling, being drawn to death by the pull of the ground.

On the afternoon of 11th July 2004, those dreams will come true for Lee Lewis and her crew - kfg moore, Patrick Farmer and Dave Thomas. Everyone present at St Mary’s Church on that day can also take part in this flight of the senses and the imagination.

Flying, and the sky has always held wonder for the artist : Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machine; Peter Lanynon’s floating paintings; James Turrell’s sky capsule. Throughout history artists have attempted to express, through their imagination, the sensation of dicing with the dangers of flight and the exhilaration of floating in the sky. Now in the safety of your seat and without physical danger you can join Lee Lewis and her crew on the inaugural flight.

Please fasten your safety belt.

Michael Nixon 2004

Flying Flying Flying Thanks

Lee Lewis would like to thank the following people for their support during this flight :

Anna Douglas and Nick Slater, Arts Council England

David Shepherd, Custodian, St Mary’s Church, The Churches Conservation Trust

Michael Nixon, Director MN Arts Associates, Commissioner for Wales at The Venice Biennale

Mike Slater, Art71.com

Chris Eldon Lee, Director Shrewsbury Summer Season

Dominic Wallis, Arts Officer, Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council

Julie Dickenson, The Grange Youth Centre

Adrian Plant and Mary White, Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery

Dave Thomas, XLENT Computers and 3:1

Patrick Farmer ‘Patch’

Kfg moore

Bijon and Richard

Allen Ward, Denver, Colorado

A peal, The Parish Ringers

And finally

Robert Cadman