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Mayor of Medway to tackle the Towns' tallest buildings, The Quays in Chatham

Cllr Vaughan Hewett training for his challenge
Cllr Vaughan Hewett training for his challenge

The Mayor of Medway Cllr Vaughan Hewett will need a head for heights when he takes on the Towns’ tallest buildings in a charity stunt.

Cllr Hewett is a keen abseiler but tomorrow’s (Saturday) challenge will be his biggest yet as he scales one of the twin towers at The Quays in Chatham Maritime, zip wiring across to the other tower and then abseiling back down to the ground.

Brave volunteers will be joining the Mayor, who is taking on one last feat before he leaves office.

Cllr Vaughan Hewett abseiling down Melville House, Chatham
Cllr Vaughan Hewett abseiling down Melville House, Chatham

Cllr Hewett will ascend the western tower, then zipwire 66 metres across to the other tower and abseil back to the ground. Forty volunteers will be joining him for the lofty zipwire and the abseil.

The glass buildings consist of 332 apartments. The tallest tower is to the west, rising a total of 21 storeys and 55 meters towards the sky, while the other eastern tower stretches 43 meters above the marina and has 17 storeys.

Not surprisingly, the challenge was the mayor’s idea. Previously he has abseiled down Melville House tower block in Chatham and St Nicholas Church in Strood, as well as swimming across the Medway.

The Quays challenge will be the biggest event he will have done during his time in office and a memorable way to exit his mayoral year, before handing over the reigns to Cllr Josie Iles.

Cllr Hewett was in training yesterday (Friday) - having a go on the climbing wall at the Arethusa Centre in Upnor.

He said: “It was my seed of thought. Those towers are just crying to have someone going across them.”

The event, like many of the mayor’s previous stunts, is to encourage young people to take challenges.

Along with the mayor’s charities, the event will also be raising money for the Arethusa outdoor venture centre in Upnor.

The technique the team will be using is called prusiking, where a rope about as thick as a shoe lace will be tied to a thicker 10mm rope and used to climb up the concrete side of the building.

Although the mayor has used the technique a few times before on his mountaineering adventures, he said the climb is no piece of cake.

He added: “It is one hell of a challenge, but you have to take a challenge when it comes along.

“This one will put Medway on the map.”

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