To help fire this trebuchet, I climbed inside it

0:00 I was in a bit of a rush as I arrived at Warwick Castle.

0:03 We’re running a little bit late.

0:05 So, the folks from the castle are guiding me

0:09 at speed through here to try and find the trebuchet team.

0:14 I’ve not been here before, it’s beautiful!

0:16 Warwick Castle is an odd place.

0:18 Most historic castles in England are either ruins,

0:21 sitting abandoned somewhere, or they’re run by a charity.

0:24 Warwick Castle is one of the few exceptions.

0:26 In 1978 it was sold by the family owners,

0:29 and it’s now run by a company that’s better known for theme parks.

0:32 So, yes, they have the historical castle tour,

0:35 but also shows of falconry and jousting,

0:37 a maze and play areas for kids, and...the Mighty Trebuchet.

0:45 And so, holding a 360 camera on a long stick because I knew

0:48 I wasn’t going to get a second take of this, I met Marc, the Trebuchet Master.

0:53 I’m so lucky to think that this is my office.

0:55 -Right.

0:56 -This is where I get to come and play with a massive war machine.

0:59 -(laughter) Yeah.

1:00 Okay, that’s worth talking about!

1:02 Because this is ultimately a war machine.

1:04 -Yep.

1:04 I get that this is a historical attraction.

1:08 There’s gonna be folks here later in the day to show all this off.

1:12 But this is a war machine.

1:14 -It is.

1:15 -And it’s colossal!

1:16 From over there, it doesn’t look that big.

1:19 But the closer you get to it,

1:20 the size and scale of it just becomes so impressive.

1:23 -It’s massive.

1:24 It’s 18 metres.

1:24 The entire weight of the machine is about 22 tonnes.

1:27 So, it is a hefty piece of kit.

1:30 -Wow!

1:31 -Do you want to take a look around it?

1:33 -Yes, absolutely.

1:33 So, you’re test firing soon?

1:35 Yeah, so we’re going to do a test shot in a moment

1:37 and I figured you wanted to get some shots of it firing.

1:40 -Yes please.

1:40 -This is basically the same as when we do a crew wind.

1:44 The only difference is for safety’s sake our first shot

1:47 of the day has to be done with a winch.

1:49 -Oh, right.

1:49 -It’s done on an electronic winch just to make sure

1:51 there’s not any problems with the arm or anything like that.

1:54 -Right.

1:54 So, when we get the crew in for the first one,

1:56 it’s health and safety side of things.

1:58 -Yep.

1:58 Obviously, historically, it would be like, “Now,

2:00 all of you get in there, keep running,

2:01 keep moving, we’re not done.” We do things like,

2:04 we clear the machine when we’re launching it.

2:06 Historically you just stay in the machine.

2:07 You don’t need to do any of that.

2:09 -Yeah, of course.

2:09 Yes, 21st century health and safety is a little bit different from...

2:13 when would this be?

2:14 -(laughter) So, it’s based off of manuscripts and documents from the 1300s.

2:19 Right!

2:20 Trebuchets fling stuff with a counterweight.

2:22 You put a lot of heavy things in there, and then you wind the arm down.

2:28 Now obviously I’m doing this manually, there’s a little ratchet system,

2:31 but Warwick Castle uses either the electronic winch for test shots,

2:35 or, well, actually I got to help manually wind it later.

2:38 I’ll show you how, it’s quite a lot of work.

2:40 Then, when everything’s ready, you prepare the payload, the very heavy D4 here,

2:45 and you get it securely in and I hope this works...

2:50 You fire.

2:51 (clattering) Which way are we firing?

2:54 You’re firing over the jousting arena?

2:56 -Yes.

2:56 Yeah, yeah.

2:57 Over that way.

2:58 I will say, um, “firing” will get you a little bit of...

3:02 -Oh, okay.

3:03 -...uh, comments, because everyone will say you cannot fire a trebuchet,

3:06 because there’s no gunpowder involved.

3:08 -Right!

3:08 (laughter) -I’ve had that one.

3:11 Okay.

3:11 We are launching the trebuchet?

3:13 -Launching, loosing, shooting.

3:14 -Launching, okay.

3:15 I disagree with those potential comments.

3:17 Words change their meaning over time.

3:19 In modern English, you can fire an arrow, you can fire a torpedo.

3:23 We were going to fire that trebuchet.

3:24 And the distance the rock’s going to go is somewhere between 150 and 200 metres.

3:30 It is not an accurate device.

3:33 -This is a siege weapon?

3:35 -Yeah.

3:35 So, its job is to take down a wall, not to accurately hit a target far away?

3:42 -No.

3:42 And also, not even just to take down a wall.

3:44 You can use this to destroy a wall.

3:46 But the second we destroy a wall to the castle,

3:48 we’ve then got a castle with a big hole in it.

3:51 Which, you know, not always the greatest thing.

3:53 Yeah.

3:53 It’s not what you want in a castle, really!

3:55 No, exactly!

3:55 But you could do things like you could throw over burning pots,

3:59 pots of lime, because lime gets in the skin and it’s really burning.

4:03 -Right.

4:03 -You could throw over dead animals to try

4:06 and get stuff into wells and get diseases, (aircraft engine overhead) so,

4:09 you defeat the people in the castle, and everybody leaves the castle going,

4:13 “Oh, no, we can’t live here anymore.” -Right.

4:15 -And then you’ve got a whole castle perfectly intact

4:17 for you and your army to just walk straight into.

4:20 Other than the dead animals and the poison.

4:22 -Yeah, yeah.

4:22 -Okay, yeah.

4:23 -Send your peasants in to deal with that.

4:25 -Yeah, yeah.

4:26 (laughter) We joke, but that’s, you know, massive loss of life.

4:28 Yeah, yeah, it’s absolutely horrific.

4:30 You could probably hear the plane there.

4:32 Warwick Castle is under a flightpath for Birmingham Airport.

4:35 Our rocks are not going anywhere near high enough for that to be a concern.

4:39 So, before the castle opens to the public, time for a test shot.

4:43 So, you’re gonna test fire using the winch?

4:45 -Yes.

4:45 -So the winch is gonna pull it into place?

4:47 Yep.

4:47 Everything is exactly the same.

4:48 It’s just the winch is pulling it down.

4:50 This would be more like if you were using cattle.

4:53 -Okay, yeah.

4:53 -So instead of using people where our rope would go through and into there...

4:58 -Yep.

4:58 ...this would be if you were using cattle or horses

5:00 where your rope comes down into a lovely block-and-tackle.

5:03 -Right, yep.

5:05 And the pulley system through here then goes through, up that way,

5:09 and the cattle will just pull it in that direction.

5:11 And in this case we have, well, we’ve got quite a lot of horsepower over there.

5:15 (laughs) You’ll be surprised how slow it is still.

5:17 -Yeah, that seems reasonable!

5:20 -(laughs) I’m skipping over a lot of the safety stuff here:

5:23 Marc checked over the radio with the marshals,

5:25 who were in place to make sure no-one

5:27 wanders into the launch site or the landing site,

5:29 and that no-one in a boat picks that moment to sail down the River Avon.

5:34 Just in case.

5:35 If you see the trebuchet misfire and it goes straight up, run.

5:39 -Right!

5:40 -Run in an opposite direction to the way it’s coming down.

5:42 -Does that happen often?

5:43 -No, no.

5:44 -Okay, good.

5:45 But it’s in the brief.

5:46 Marc pushed his button, the winch started winching,

5:49 the rope tightened, and the arm started descending.

5:51 That counterweight is already full of rocks.

5:53 It really is just wild to look at, isn’t it?

5:56 So, if you step up actually onto the machine,

5:59 you’ll actually feel some of the creaks.

6:01 You’ll feel the cracks.

6:02 You can feel the vibrations running through on your feet.

6:05 Oh, yeah.

6:07 Yeah, the whole thing is just juddering slightly.

6:11 And that rope seems to be moving very, very slowly.

6:14 -Yes.

6:14 -Until you look up and realise how much stuff is being moved.

6:19 Because remember, that winch isn’t just pulling the arm down,

6:21 it’s pulling the counterweight up.

6:23 There is so much force there.

6:25 -I have to ask the cheeky question.

6:27 -Yep.

6:27 I assume I’m not allowed to pull the pin.

6:29 You wouldn’t be able to pull the pin but you

6:31 might be able to do an assisted trigger shot with me.

6:33 -That I’ll happily take.

6:35 -(laughs) I don’t know what that means, but I’ll try it.

6:38 We’ll both be on the rope together.

6:40 And we’ll pull it in unison together after a count of three.

6:43 So, I’ll probably do that if we do our second shot just

6:46 so you can see one of the pulls to start off with.

6:48 And then we’ll talk it through together on how that can happen.

6:51 -Thank you very much, sir.

6:53 Slowly but surely, the arm descended, and the structure strained and groaned.

6:58 The...

6:58 (clunks) There we go, that’s a big one.

7:00 (laughter) Okay, that was meant to happen.

7:03 That’s fine.

7:03 Yeah, no, that happens every time.

7:05 At that moment, the only thing that was holding

7:08 the arm down was the winch and the rope.

7:10 So, Marc put in the pin that kept it in place,

7:12 and also a second chain that acted as a backup.

7:14 Okay, that’s going nowhere.

7:16 Yeah, to make sure we have two points of connection the entire

7:19 time to make sure if there was any issues, -Of course.

7:22 it’s safe.

7:23 -Yeah.

7:24 -’Cos that’s what we need.

7:25 So, what we’ll do, if we step off the treb’ now...

7:27 -Yes.

7:28 -Just ’cos...

7:29 -I need to be back behind the line?

7:31 -No, no, no.

7:31 You’ve got a little bit of time yet.

7:33 -Oh, right.

7:34 Before we can fire it, we’ve got to get rid of all the rope.

7:37 Get the rope into place, because otherwise,

7:38 if you leave the rope unattached, you’ve got...how long is it?

7:43 I think it’s 34 metres.

7:45 You have a 34 metre whip.

7:47 -Oh!

7:47 Okay!

7:48 No, that’s bad!

7:50 That’s bad.

7:51 -(laughs) That will go faster than the speed of sound.

7:53 You’ll hear the whip crack of it.

7:54 I have seen old US Navy training videos

7:57 of why you don’t leave ropes lying around.

8:00 -Yeah!

8:01 (laughter) -Because it will bisect a person.

8:03 Exactly that.

8:04 The US Navy video in question is called “Synthetic Line Snapback”,

8:09 and thankfully it demonstrates with mannequins.

8:11 [announcer] The fragile human body can be torn apart by this vicious assault.

8:16 The trebuchet is a weapon of war.

8:18 And while it’s no doubt a lot of fun in this context,

8:21 there are huge forces involved.

8:24 As I release the tension on the winch, you’ll see the trigger actually engage.

8:29 And that’s how we know the trigger’s engaged and it’s safe to use.

8:31 Let’s see how close I can get my camera to that.

8:33 So, it’ll just be a tiny little movement.

8:35 (clanking) There you go.

8:37 That’s the trigger engaged.

8:38 It’s a very small movement, but I can tell the difference there.

8:41 So, that’s how we know the arm is fully engaged.

8:43 There’s no tension in the winch anymore.

8:45 -Yeah.

8:45 The rope is slack.

8:47 This is all on the trebuchet.

8:48 Until I was standing here, I didn’t understand the scale of this, or how

8:54 much force there is just wound up there right now.

8:59 And all that’s holding it in is that one bit of metal.

9:03 -I’m just moving that out the way.

9:06 -Yeah.

9:07 -Again just so there’s a nice clear path

9:09 for the ball as it launches out of the trough.

9:12 -Right.

9:12 So, talk me through what’s gonna happen.

9:14 The ball is...?

9:16 The ball is at the moment sitting on this lovely

9:17 long rope that’s going down the centre there.

9:19 Right.

9:20 I was gonna say, I couldn’t find a projectile.

9:23 (laughter) Well, I’ll be bringing my wonderful

9:25 assistant from just over here, literally now.

9:29 Loader, to the machine!

9:30 -(laughter) And they’ll come in and they place the ball in the trough

9:34 for me while I attach the loop to this point up here.

9:38 This is really, really important.

9:39 The curve of this has been scientifically worked out to make sure that it

9:43 launches at the correct time and the correct place and the correct rate.

9:47 -Right.

9:47 And this helps keep the rope on so,

9:49 it doesn’t slip off earlier, and launches it further,

9:52 and we measure it with our scientific measuring device

9:55 of a piece of wood carved to the exact same measurements.

9:58 If it’s gone out of alignment with this, we

10:01 know there’s a problem, we can’t shoot.

10:03 Because every single time it runs, that could get pulled out of whack.

10:07 -Yeah.

10:07 Right...

10:08 -Okay.

10:09 Prepare to load!

10:11 -Ready to load!

10:11 -Ready to load!

10:12 Load the machine.

10:14 -Because you do not load early.

10:18 -No!

10:18 (laughs) Same as any weapon.

10:21 Until you know you’re ready to fire, you don’t have anything in the chamber.

10:26 -No.

10:26 Especially with the climbing around it, the moving around.

10:29 You don’t want anything there in case anything did go wrong.

10:31 -So, how heavy is that?

10:32 -That is...

10:33 I believe that’s an 18kg rock.

10:35 -Okay.

10:35 -It’s obviously attached to the rope.

10:37 -Yep.

10:38 We’ve got a little bit of a modern thing in there,

10:40 that we have a little bit of a metal rebar put into it,

10:42 and it is basically a concrete block.

10:44 -Right.

10:45 Obviously, historically, it’s just a lump of stone.

10:48 -Lump of whatever you’ve got to fire.

10:49 -This is the point I’m going to start undoing the safeties in a second.

10:53 Once I have taken that safety off...

10:55 -Yep.

10:55 ...I’ll need you all to just head back over there.

10:58 Back behind there, alright.

11:00 Position A, am I clear to shoot?

11:02 [radio] Position A, code green.

11:04 Position B, am I clear to shoot?

11:06 Position B, code green, over.

11:08 Position C, am I clear to shoot?

11:10 Code green, over.

11:11 All positions code green, all positions code green.

11:13 Getting ready to release the safeties.

11:15 Alright, let me know where I need to go.

11:17 I’m going to keep the camera on you until the moment you tell me to go away.

11:19 Yeah, of course.

11:21 (laughs) Oh...

11:23 (chain clanking) CHAIN REMOVED!

11:34 PIN REMOVED!

11:37 So, if you’d like to stand...

11:39 -Yep.

11:39 ...probably about...I’d say about here.

11:41 -Okay.

11:42 TREBUCHET LIVE!

11:45 When Marc pulls the rope, you’ll hear him yell,

11:48 “Have a care,” which is an old-fashioned

11:50 way of yelling “heads!” All positions code green.

11:53 Getting ready to release the rock.

11:56 HAVE A CARE!

11:58 (creaking) (laughter) No Hollywood sound effects,

12:07 no big thud on landing because it’s so far away.

12:10 I hope that’s as impressive on camera as it was in person.

12:13 There is so much mass moving so fast.

12:16 What I’m watching for now is just to make sure that the...

12:19 as the arm’s flinging back and forth, everything stays on it,

12:22 there’s no problems in the machine after firing,

12:24 loosing, launching, whatever you want to call it.

12:26 -Yeah!

12:27 -(laughter) And also that the rope is going to sit nicely for us,

12:31 ’cos we had a crack develop last year.

12:33 So, you can see there’s a huge load

12:35 of metal bracing that’s been added down the arm,

12:37 which has added...I think it’s 84 bolts to the machine.

12:40 And it’s quite easy for the rope to get tangled around those 84 bolts.

12:45 And that’s still tons of wood and stone rocking

12:49 back and forth like it’s just a swing set.

12:52 Historically kids actually used to sit in the counterweight.

12:55 -What?!

12:55 -Yeah.

12:56 Sorry, historically.

12:57 Do you mean, historically-historically, or like historically at Warwick Castle?

13:01 -No, historically-historically.

13:01 -Okay, right!

13:02 -I would love to sit in there.

13:04 -I would pay money for that!

13:05 -Yeah, that experience!

13:06 ’Cos it is, like you said, it’s a big swing.

13:08 It’s not a jagged action.

13:11 Because of the fact of how it’s axled and the weight of it, it swings freely.

13:15 So, you could sit in there and be...

13:17 -Whoa!

13:18 -I know!

13:19 (laughs) Okay.

13:21 I can’t find any evidence to back that up,

13:23 but it’s such a good story that I hope it’s true.

13:26 I really wanted to ride in that counterweight.

13:29 Anyway, trebuchet, working.

13:31 An 18-kilo rock, about the weight of three bowling balls,

13:33 has just been launched nearly twice the length of a football pitch.

13:38 So, someone went to fetch the rock,

13:39 and before I got into the trebuchet to wind it and then help fire it,

13:43 we took a quick break.

13:44 This is a Little Owl.

13:46 That’s the species name, the Little Owl,

13:48 and they’ve been brought back from local extinction

13:51 by something that I’m part of: Planet Wild,

13:53 which is like crowdfunding for nature.

13:55 Every month, more than 25,000 Planet Wild members,

13:58 including me, fund a new, targeted rewilding mission together.

14:02 Like the predator-proof nesting boxes that help protect these owl families.

14:07 Which has worked!

14:07 The Little Owls are back in this part of Germany,

14:10 and I’m really grateful to the team here

14:12 for letting me visit and meet a couple of them.

14:14 It’s so much more than just some nest boxes, though.

14:16 Planet Wild have a great video all about it,

14:18 I will link it in the end card, it’s worth watching.

14:21 And Planet Wild are incredibly transparent: first,

14:24 every single mission is documented on their YouTube channel within 30 days,

14:28 along with text updates on the app,

14:30 so you can see exactly who they’re working with and what they’ve achieved.

14:33 They follow up a year later, too.

14:35 And second, there are quarterly financial reports on their website

14:39 that give a lot of detail on where the money goes.

14:42 So if you’d like to join me, and be part of a group that is saving owls,

14:46 or building beehive fences in Tanzania to protect both humans and elephants,

14:50 or any of the other dozens of measurable, concrete things that Planet Wild does,

14:55 if you’d like to help protect the planet from your sofa,

14:57 then you can sign up and give whatever amount, big or small,

15:00 feels right to you, and vote on where that money should go.

15:03 Scan this QR code, or click the link in the description.

15:06 The first 150 people to sign up with my code,

15:10 TOM7, will have their first month paid for.

15:12 Do remember to use that code, TOM7.

15:14 And there’s no lock-in, so you can cancel at any time.

15:20 Break time was over, and with the first visitors of the day arriving,

15:18 Oh, you are adorable, aren't you?

15:23 they set up for the trebuchet show.

15:25 Just a small crowd, this soon after opening on a school day.

15:28 It’d be hosted by someone called Noel over on the other side of the river,

15:31 and I’d get to take part.

15:33 This was, oddly, not my first time in a “treadmill crane”.

15:37 -Thank you.

15:37 That should work.

15:38 -Let me know if it doesn’t fit.

15:40 Are you staying in then, Josh, for the first unwind?

15:42 That the right way round?

15:43 Yeah.

15:44 They have quite sensibly put the person in 21st

15:48 century clothing with the big camera away from the tourists.

15:53 That’s, I think, a reasonable thing for Warwick Castle to do.

15:57 WINDERS, TO THE WHEELS!

16:00 -Right.

16:01 Okay.

16:02 Joining me in the treadmill crane was Josh.

16:05 Two other winders were on the other side.

16:06 The rope was now connected to our wheel, and as we climbed forward,

16:10 our weight would turn the wheel and pull down the arm.

16:13 I’d been told there was a call and response.

16:15 We’d hear, “Winders, ready,” and we’d reply,

16:19 “Born ready.” And...I missed my cue.

16:22 Winders ready!

16:25 -Born ready!

16:25 -...born ready!

16:26 Walk on!

16:28 And you look out that way.

16:30 -Yep, pick a tree.

16:31 -Yep.

16:31 -If you want us to slow down, just say.

16:34 -I’m good.

16:35 I’m good.

16:35 We were told: don’t look forward.

16:38 If you look forward, you get confused by the rotating wheel,

16:41 you get motion sick, you fall over, it’s embarrassing for everyone.

16:44 Instead, you look out, you pick a fixed point like a tree, and you keep walking.

16:51 You’re going to start feeling some resistance now.

16:53 -Yeah, you do.

16:54 -Yeah.

16:54 It’s a real leg workout.

16:56 Yep.

16:56 I mean, I’m hoping I’m putting enough energy in.

16:59 I hope it’s not just you doing this.

17:00 -Nah...

17:01 -It certainly feels like I am.

17:03 This took a couple of minutes of climbing.

17:05 -How we all feeling back here?

17:07 We good?

17:07 -It’s really hard on your calves.

17:09 Oh, yeah.

17:10 Okay.

17:11 Yup.

17:11 We’re nearly there.

17:12 We’re nearly on the brake.

17:13 -How can you tell?

17:14 -There’s a tape on the rope here.

17:16 -Oh, right.

17:17 -So, you can tell.

17:20 It’ll be in the next two seconds.

17:23 (wheel creaking) Winders, slow and hold!

17:27 (creaking) (gasping) So, halfway there.

17:30 How are you feeling?

17:31 -I’m good.

17:32 You okay?

17:32 -Yeah, great.

17:33 -Halfway there?

17:34 -Yeah.

17:35 Well, halfway to it down.

17:37 The rope has to pull the trebuchet down.

17:38 We were about halfway to doing that, and then

17:40 once the trebuchet is locked and ready to fire,

17:43 the rope has to get wound out of the way again, because...34-metre whip.

17:47 Everyone happy to continue?

17:49 -Yeah.

17:50 -Yeah.

17:50 I was slightly late on the ‘born ready’ thing.

17:52 I knew that joke was coming and I was still slightly late.

17:55 -Right, ready again?

17:55 -You’ll get it this time.

17:56 So, winders ready!

17:59 -Born ready!

18:00 -Born ready!

18:01 -Walk on!

18:02 Oh!

18:03 Look out that way!

18:05 -Found your tree?

18:07 -Yep.

18:08 It’s much harder than I thought it would be.

18:10 Yeah, ’cos you’re not looking ahead of you,

18:12 so, you can’t really see where you’re going.

18:13 Ten feet remaining!

18:16 I don’t know what he said, but we’re not stopping.

18:19 Yeah, so the arm is ten feet away from where we need it to be.

18:22 -Eight feet remaining!

18:23 -Now we’re on eight feet.

18:25 (creaking) We’re nearly there.

18:27 Six feet!

18:28 Six feet.

18:30 Four feet!

18:31 (creaking) Two feet!

18:35 (creaking) Winders, slow and hold!

18:42 We made it.

18:44 -Job done.

18:45 -We did it, yeah.

18:46 -Thank you.

18:46 -Good job, mate.

18:47 Winders, one in, one out!

18:51 (gasping) So, if you’d like to, you can just stand on the back.

18:55 -Yep.

18:55 -And you can help with our braking system,

18:57 which is a very advanced piece of technology.

19:00 That’s the stopper and it’s usually underneath here.

19:02 -Oh, right, yeah.

19:03 -So, when we do one in, one out,

19:04 the other person will come around here and be on the brakes.

19:06 -I am much happier with you on the brakes.

19:08 -Winders, ready!

19:09 -Born ready!

19:10 -Walk on!

19:11 So, with a bit less effort required, we wound the rope back in.

19:14 You’re doing great, everyone, keep it up!

19:17 (creaking) -Ready on the brakes!

19:21 -Ready!

19:21 Winders, slow and hold!

19:25 -Alright.

19:25 Swapping over?

19:26 -Winders, leave the machine!

19:28 -Having a go?

19:29 -Yep.

19:29 One in, one out.

19:32 Got it.

19:35 Okay.

19:36 Pick the barrels.

19:38 I’m gonna go at your pace, okay?

19:40 -Okay.

19:40 -I’m gonna go at your pace.

19:41 Thank you.

19:42 I don’t know what my pace will be, so that’s appreciated.

19:45 -Winders, ready!

19:46 -Born ready!

19:48 Walk on!

19:50 There is no rush.

19:52 Take your time.

19:53 (creaking) Eyes that way.

20:00 With that, most of the physical work was done.

20:03 Winders, slow and hold!

20:08 Winders, leave the machine!

20:10 Josh to load.

20:11 Would you like to assist with the loading?

20:13 -Sure.

20:14 Yep, so if you follow Josh just over there,

20:16 he’ll take you through into the machine.

20:18 (gasping) -This is what we shoot.

20:27 -Okay.

20:27 (gasping) -Prepare to load.

20:31 -Yep.

20:31 -Ready to load.

20:32 -Ready.

20:33 -Load the machine.

20:34 -Okay.

20:36 -Then we pull it back as far as we can.

20:38 -Right.

20:39 Have this facing upwards...

20:41 See, that’s perfect.

20:42 -Okay.

20:43 -You happy with the positioning?

20:44 -Yeah.

20:45 -Alright, you can leave the machine.

20:46 -Okay.

20:47 -Position A, are we clear to shoot?

20:49 [radio] -Position A, code green.

20:50 -Position B, are we clear to shoot?

20:51 -B, code green.

20:52 Position C, are we clear to shoot?

20:54 All positions code green.

20:56 Getting ready to release the safeties.

20:59 Alright.

21:00 Whew.

21:02 (gasping) -(laughter) So,

21:04 I’m just about to get ready to release the safeties again.

21:06 I’m going to be waiting for Noel ’cos he

21:08 will be going through his talk on the other side.

21:10 -Yep.

21:11 -He needs to be able to finish his stuff without me rushing him.

21:15 -Oh, right.

21:15 Hold the rope.

21:16 You’ll stand behind me.

21:17 I’ll count us in.

21:19 We go forward...

21:20 and then pull backwards together.

21:21 -Forward.

21:22 Pull hard backwards.

21:23 -And I will be behind you?

21:25 -Behind me, yeah.

21:26 -And as soon as it goes...

21:27 -Yep.

21:27 ...let go of the rope.

21:28 Don’t keep hold of the rope, just in case.

21:30 -Just in case.

21:31 -Anything happens.

21:32 Okay.

21:34 [Noel] Are you ready?

21:35 BORN READY!

21:37 CHAIN REMOVED!

21:42 PIN REMOVED!

21:45 TREBUCHET LIVE!

21:48 So, remind me again, we’re going slightly...

21:50 -So, we have a little bit of slack in it.

21:52 -Yep.

21:52 We let it go slack and pull back as hard as you can.

21:56 Alright.

21:56 -So, if you stand...

21:57 -I’m behind you.

21:58 Yeah, if you stand with the rope just there.

22:00 -Yep.

22:00 -There you go.

22:01 We’ll keep it about here.

22:02 They’re gonna count us in.

22:03 -Of course they are.

22:04 So...

22:05 No.

22:05 A little bit less tension.

22:06 Just a little bit.

22:07 Three!

22:08 Two!

22:08 One!

22:09 Loose!

22:09 Okay, go forward, and...

22:11 HAVE A CARE!

22:12 Let go.

22:17 (laughter) (creaking) -Thank you for the reminder to let go.

22:25 -(laughs) Well done, sir.

22:27 -Thank you very much.

22:28 -You’ve fired your first trebuchet.

22:29 Or loosed your first trebuchet, I should say.

22:31 (laughter) What a joy.

22:34 It’s such an experience, isn’t it?

22:36 Don't forget about the owls!

22:37 You can watch Planet Wild’s video at the link on screen, and use the code TOM7.

22:43 Next time, or right now on Nebula:

22:46 about 50,000 people are going to hear me try and play music,

22:50 whether they want to or not.