One of the biggest surprises of the Newcastle United trophy parade on Saturday was the unfurling of a giant Eddie Howe flag on the side of a city centre hotel.
An hour before the bus carrying Newcastle United's Carabao Cup winning heroes left St James' Park, thousands gathered below had their eyes on the side of the Sandman Signature Hotel as a large flag started to unfurl. While Newcastle City Council said that planning the cup winning celebrations was the equivalent of Glastonbury with two weeks' notice, Wor Flags and a rope access team had less than 24 hours to concoct a plan to hang the 35-metre flag.
The flag was initially intended to be unveiled as the bus passed, but due to having never attempted anything like this before, they erred on the side of caution. Thankfully, it went almost entirely without a hitch.
Paul Farrier, a level three rope access leader who abseiled down the building with the flag, is a huge Newcastle fan and didn't think twice about taking on the job. He told ChronicleLive: "It was a massive job, purely because the flag was so big.
"It's completely out of the ordinary, even though the hauling and hanging is an every day part of our job, an 85ft wide by 112ft high flag which isn't designed to be hung in front of 100,000 people is not!
"It was designed to be passed through the crowd. Wor Flags had to modify the flag and add eyelets so we could use our ropes to hang it. It was absolutely epic, the biggest thing I've ever been involved with."
Using a system of metalwork, pulleys, and carabiners, Paul accompanied the flag down the building with second abseiler David Carter, as Chris Coburn co-ordinated them from the roof. Five members of Wor Flags were lying on their backs close to the edge of the roof, helping to keep the tension up and the flag stable.
Chris Coburn, Paul Farrier and David Carter (Image: Paul Farrier)
Having never tried anything on this scale before, Paul was confident it would work but the wind was a complication. At one point, the flag started to "balloon", and the crowd were quiet as Eddie Howe's fist started to appear.
Paul, who is a massive NUFC fan and lives in Battle Hill, said: "At the time we were battling with the winds so my mind wasn't too concerned with the crowd, I was more worried about the flag taking off.
"But when we got about half way down the building and the flag started to show Eddie Howe, the crowd erupted. I couldn't see them, but I could see the reflections of the glass on the windows and they were going absolutely crazy.
"I nearly cried, I had a lump in my throat. It was an absolutely surreal moment and one I'll never ever forget, to be honest!"
Graeme Robson of Wor Flags added: "When Eddie's head started to appear, a massive roar came up and it was absolutely brilliant. We knew then, that was when all the ropes started tensioning, and we could hear the roar and we thought brilliant - it's done."
Further down the road, members of Wor Flags saluted the team with more flags from the roof of the Tyneside Irish Centre. The one downside of both Wor Flags displays is that the members had to stay behind to clear up, and when they got to the Town Moor event, were right at the back of the 150,000 strong crowd.
Paul, David and Chris waived their fee for hanging the flag and instead chose to donate it to the Tiny Lives Trust, a charity which supports sick and premature newborn babies and their families. The Sandman Signature matched the abseilers' donation, bringing the total to £3360.
How to follow our NUFC WhatsApp channel
Did you know you can now get Newcastle United stories on WhatsApp? As well as our NUFC communities, we also have a channel dedicated to sending you the best news, opinion and analysis on all things black-and-white.
All you have to do is follow our channel on WhatsApp by clicking this link or you can find us by searching Chronicle Newcastle United.
Updates will then automatically appear if you select the Updates option on your WhatsApp menu and selecting the 'Chronicle - Newcastle United' channel. It's as easy as that. There are already thousands signed up, but remember to turn your notifications on so don't miss out.