The date of 17th September had been etched on the minds of several members and friends of Diss Community Farm for some time; well it is with some relief and elation that we can now refer to it in the past tense.
Having been in denial for the last few weeks it suddenly seemed very real now we could see real logs, real fire with our own eyes. So setting aside common sense 21 of us signed the disclaimer to say that we only had ourselves to blame if we were burnt by walking 15ft over 500 degrees C hot coals! (3rd degree burns can occur at about 70 C, yikes!)
Scott Bell of FireWalk UK then took us through a little training session, where we contemplated the theory: a little physics of conductivity, the Leidenfrost Effect – water vapour theory, mind over matter, the power of our electro magnetic field, or our aura (not my favourite theory!), the walker’s intention, and so on. I’d previously been clinging to the idea that it was just a matter of physics, but now my belief in this and the other theories was a little shaky, so what was it that would stop me from getting burned? At this point I really wasn’t sure, would believing I wouldn’t get burned really mean that I wouldn’t?
In the dark we lined up in front of the stretch of burning hot coals, Scott measured the temperature and confirmed that they were over 500 c. Despite this some walkers were brimming with confidence and others lingered at the back to see how the front runners would fair. Jack stepped up first and strode across with confidence, quickly followed by more walkers eager to show that they could do it too.
It was suddenly my turn, could I do it? I had no idea how, but I repeated the only mantra that came to mind, ‘I won’t get burned…and Erika will do me greater harm if chicken out and fail to collect the sponsor money!’ As I placed my foot onto the hot coal my first thought, ‘Ouch!’ but I got to the end. The heat was intense, my feet were black, but I was unscathed, no burns, not even a blister. The feeling of relief and excitement for us all was immense. Each walker was cheered on by the crowd of spectators and each stepped off feeling elated, many of us made the most of this once in a life time opportunity and had second and third goes. For a short moment we felt like gods!
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The official pics can be seen on the FireWalk UK website http://www.ukfirewalk.com/diss.html
The main event was followed by some great entertainment from Hilary Cornell. There were cakes and pickles and great chilli, circus skills, beautiful face painting and a raffle. The evening was a resounding success, we’ll let you know just how financially successful when the count up has been done! Thank you to all those who worked hard behind the scenes to pull this event together.
And to all those brave fire walkers: Erika Doerksen, Kris Doerksen, Claire Mitchell, Steve Scott, Carol Denham, Jay Hurley, Ruth Noble, Steve Noble, Ange Lamb, Gareth Newberry, Nicole Doerksen, Jack Dickenson, Jonas Enqvist, Jess Dickenson, Suzy Chrystal, Sylvia Stribley, Harriet Beckett-Allan, Anne Beckett-Allan, Patricia Doohan, Martin Springfeld, Claire Clarkson thank you, remember now we’ve braved the hot coals we can do anything!
Diss Community Farm 