As a Season Ticket holder and longtime supporter I was particularly pleased when Buckingham Group Contracting Limited (contractor for the new stand www.buckinghamgroup.co.uk ) connected us to see if we might add a little pyro sparkle to the opening of the Barwell Stand at Franklin’s Gardens.
After a site visit we decided to adapt rigging props which appropriately enough had been fabricated for the RWC displays at Twickenham last year (see video: www.titaniumfireworks.com/videos/ ). These allow us to adjust the angle of fire and in this instance sat on stanchions running at approximately 45 degrees from the rear of the roof running towards the pitch.
It was designed to be a daylight flurry of roof pyro to add a little punctuation and noise to a special moment, as the chief executive Allan Robson said: “The opening of the Barwell Stand is about celebrating the proud history and bright future of Northampton Saints and Franklin’s Gardens”
We get to see some unique views in our work and we ran a competition on the day to see who would recognize the stadium from this unusual angle. There were many good guesses but in the end we had to include the The National Lift Tower www.nationallifttower.co.uk to the south west of the stadium before we got the right answer
Saints went on to win the match against London Irish 35 – 7 and inevitably the television report showed the pyro and linked it to fireworks on the pitch, no complaints from us for this reference. For more information about Northampton Saints and Franklin’s Gardens go to www.northamptonsaints.co.uk, it is a fantastic place to watch Rugby. COYS!