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Pickering Church spire, 1910. This
shows the steeple jacks, with ropes and
ladders, working on the church spire. For
many years it was thought that Eric
Taylor, a Pickering builder was the first
local person to climb to the top of the
church spire. However, Mrs. Grace
Winterton, nee Scales accomplished the
task on the 31st of August 1913 when a
painter teased her and promised her a
three penny piece if she would climb to
the top. Her father was Rooke Scales, a
local builder who had worked on the church
spire previously. Probably the only
surviving local person to have touched the
clock on the top of Pickering Church spire
is Pickering author and historian Ron
Scales. In 1950 Taylors Builders of
Pickering scaffolded the steeple to a bout
20 feet from the top and Mr. Scales
climbed a ladder from the top of the
scaffold and touched the cock bird, which
is the size of a small donkey. Picture By:
Sidney Smith
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