A free climber from Manchester posed as a construction worker in order to scale and hang off the tallest crane in Dubai.
21-year-old Adam Lockwood, from Wigan, successfully scaled the crane without any safety equipment and hung off it with just one hand after he managed to gain entry to the 77-storey residential skyscraper, Il Primo – which is directly next to the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.
He posed as a construction worker and attempted to dodge the real construction workers on his ascent to the top.
Video footage documenting Lockwood’s death-defying journey to top of the 390 metre (1,280ft) crane has been shared to his YouTube channel, and has already racked up over tens and thousands of views.
Lockwood said the whole experience was “surreal”.
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During the seven-minute YouTube video of the journey to completing the stunt – which was was carried out at 5:45am, and mostly filmed on a GoPro – Lockwood pretended to be a construction worker who had forgotten something in order to gain access to the building, but after being initially shouted at by a genuine site worker, had to changed stairwells eight times over two hours to evade others.
With the sun rise and glittering cityscape providing the dramatic backdrop to the stunt, the video then shows Lockwood flipping and moving around the crane’s structure, and then hanging off the top of it with one just hand.
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The video then ends with him emerging onto the streets with a stunned expression, looking up at the towering skyscrapers.
Lockwood said he experience as “the most incredible thing I’ve ever done”, but described it as “almost peaceful” as his “brain is blank” when he performs stunts.
“When I first looked at the footage, I was thinking to myself: ‘This is it, this is the most incredible thing I’ve done,” he said. “It’s something I know I can do and that 99% of the world can’t and never will do, so I feel obliged to use my ability and enjoy doing it in the process.”
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He admitted he “slept for the whole day” afterwards.
He successfully scaled the 1,280ft crane without any safety equipment and hung off it with just one hand / Credit: Adam Lockwood (via YouTube – Nuisance)
This isn’t the first time Lockwood has attempted previous stunts, of course, and has most-notably dangled from the 80-metre San Siro stadium in Milan back in April, and later scaled the famous glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris to take a selfie.
In the past, he has also grabbed headlines for scaling Arndale Food Court in Manchester city centre during a Black Lives Matter protest on 7 June 2020, and then just a few days later, he dangled from the edge of a 600ft balcony at the Madison Building in London’s Canary Wharf – with video footage of both instances uploaded to the internet.
Back in August 2020, Lockwood was handed a suspended sentence and narrowly avoided jail after breaching a Manchester City Council injunction, and “continuing to risk his life” by “dangerously scaling” tall buildings.
Major pop star crowns humble rice and three cafe as ‘Jewel of Manchester’ ahead of sold-out gig
Thomas Melia
A beloved city centre takeaway has been given the title of ‘Jewel of Manchester’ by chart-topping UK singer Sam Smith.
Known for hits like ‘Stay With Me’, ‘I’m Not The Only One’ and more recently ‘Unholy’, UK pop-ballad act Sam Smith also likes to drop a food review every once in a while.
Currently on the road with a run of shows in Manchester and London for their ‘To Be Free’ live shows, Sam Smith is stopping off at some of our city’s much-loved spots.
On their food-reviewing account titled ‘Sam Served’, where they adopt the aptly-fitting nickname ‘Ham Smith’, Sam has visited restaurants across the globe – and most recently turned their attention to Manchester’s own This & That.
Smith decided to pop in and grab a cheeky rice and three from long-standing backstreet food business This & That, and it certainly went down a treat.
After sampling their amazing selection of meat, vegetable and vegan curries, the musician crowned this family-run Indian takeaway a ‘Jewel of Manchester’.
The hitmaker described this Northern Quarter Indian eatery as ‘Everything food should be’ and definitely enjoyed all the curries on offer ‘leaving belly and heart full’.
This & That prides itself on affordable and comforting food with its ‘Rice and Three Curries’ starting from just £6 – not bad for a city centre foodie spot.
Sam has racked up an impressive 490k followers via their ‘Sam Served’ profile, with famous faces like Lily Allen, Denise Welch and CMAT all wanting to know the superstar’s foodie thoughts.
After enjoying a curry or three, Sam Smith also made sure to feed their soul to by venturing down to Afflecks and getting lost in the music at Mars Tapes.
Recognised as one of the UK’s only cassette and tape shops, Mars Tapes lets you flick through their crates of physical media and even preview tracks before you buy with its dedicated listening areas.
It’s safe to say that Smith has ‘Latched’ onto Manchester’s independent business scene and we’re here for it.
The London-born artist has just released their latest album Hazel Eyes and is currently amid a UK residency tour with two dates in Manchester’s Albert Hall and eight shows set for London Coliseum.
You can now have a private sleepover amongst all the history inside Manchester Museum
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Museum is now offering one lucky family the chance to have a sleepover with Stan the Tyrannosaurus rex.
For the first time in Manchester Museum’s history, one lucky family will be given the chance to experience an incredible night at the museum.
This unique opportunity is being offered as part of a prize draw, allowing visitors to find out what happens once the sun goes down inside the Fossils and Dinosaurs gallery – in the company of Stan, the famous Tyrannosaurus rex, of course.
The Fossils and Dinosaurs gallery is one of the most iconic spaces within Manchester Museum.
Having opened to the public all the way back in 1888, it’s part of the museum’s original building designed by celebrated Alfred Waterhouse, who also designed Manchester Town Hall and London’s Natural History Museum.
Not only will the lucky winning family enjoy an overnight stay in the gallery, but they’ll also be treated to a guided torchlight tour of the galleries after the Museum has closed, as well as other fun activities and a film screening too before bed.
You can now have a private sleepover inside Manchester Museum / Credit: The Manc Group
“We can’t be completely sure what happens when the sun goes down in our Fossils and Dinosaurs gallery, because nobody has ever spent the night in there before, but we can only imagine the kind of fun that can be had with Stan the T. rex and his friends,” said Dean Whiteside, Head of Commercial and Operations at Manchester Museum.
“This is a chance to be a part of museum history and enjoy the kind of once-in-a-lifetime experience you can’t usually buy.
“At the same time, Manchester Museum is a charity so, by getting behind this initiative, you’ll be helping to support vital work that impacts the lives of people across Greater Manchester and beyond.”
Fancy it then? You can enter the prize draw by buying a ticket for £5 from the Manchester Museum Shop, with each ticket counting as one entry and the winner set to be chosen at random from all valid entries.
The prize draw is now open and closes on Monday 28 September 2026.
Emily Sergeant -
1st July 2022 
