UK System Scaffold Hire is a business specialised in providing public access staircases, loading towers and span beams for the last 150 years. However, the request to incorporate a children’s slide at historic Framlingham Castle in Suffolk was a first.

The £1.2m project at Framlingham Castle was only conservation work at first. Framlingham castle gained global attention with the recent release of Ed Sheeran’s ode to his hometown, Castle on the Hill, therefore visitor numbers were expected to rise in the future. So when it was suggested to add two public access staircases which should enable visitors to see the restored walls close up, the team started working with specialists to find the best solution.

Following a site visit, UK System Scaffold Hire worked with scaffold design specialists Creator Temporary Works and Design to finalise a scheme for the two 9.5m public staircases.

It was then realised that these staircases provided a great opportunity to create a unique visitor attraction – a slide along the walls of Framlingham castle.

However, Gary Griffiths, MD of UK SSH explains that a slide also was a new design challenge since the company never faced such a request before. Alongside the 6.5m high slide the design should also include a waiting area at the top and ensure that the slide could curve around the temporary staircase, keeping clear of the scaffold buttress.

The solution was to move the entrance step to the opposite side of the staircase, adding an extra bay and an entrance step going to the first landing, which allowed the slide to sweep unhindered to the ground.

Two days later the equipment was on site and the erection completed, in time for half term when hundreds of children grabbed the chance to slide down the walls of Framlingham castle – a slide into history.