4 Comments

• At 2009.04.14 00:20, Bob B. said:

  It looks more like a fire escape to me. There is probably some sort of counter-weight system that keeps it raised until there is enough weight on the steps (e.g. someone trying to walk down them) to cause it to lower the near end to the ground. You can see a kind of metal arch around the middle of the thing and above it, almost at the top of the picture, is a bracket attached to the wall. I suspect there is a steel cable that runs from the arch thingy over a pulley attached to the bracket and eventually (where we can’t see it) over another pulley with a frigging great lump of something on the end.

  Neat picture. The building on the left looks almost monochromatic while the one facing us is so warm and inviting by comparison.

  [Reply]
• At 2009.04.14 00:42, pierre l said:

  The window-cleaning idea is more exotic, but this does indeed look like an old-fashioned fire escape to me. I think you’d find that quite a lot of fairly high buildings in places like New York would have a fixed outside fire escapes in going down one floor at a time, with the last bit counter-balanced so that people on the ground can’t go up it.
  But the picture is lovely, as always.

  [Reply]
• At 2009.04.14 07:22, Beth said:

  I was in two minds about posting this. I’m really glad I did now - it’s good to learn what the apparatus really is! Thanks Bob and Pierre. I’ll have to go back next time I’m in that part of town for another look!

  [Reply]
• At 2009.06.02 10:59, Conservatory Cleaning West Yorkshire said:

  nice ideas. good luck

  [Reply]