I hurl 18kg rocks for a living: Mother, 33, ditches scientist career to become UK’s only female trebuchet master

A mum who ditched her career as a scientist to become the UK’s only female trebuchet master has said she “underestimated how inspiring (she) would be to other people” and “can’t believe” she gets to do such a fun job.

Sophie Wood, 33, who lives in Warwick with her two daughters, Elodie, eight, and Ellise, six, first worked at Warwick Castle as an actor when she was 21, but then went on to become a scientist, working as a lecturer and physician’s assistant in anaesthetics at Dudley Hospital.

But after giving birth to her children she had a seven-year career break and became a stay-at-home mum. Once her eldest was due to start school, she spotted an advert for a trebuchet master and instantly applied.

When she got the position, she was really “excited and grateful” to prove to herself she could do it, and to “represent what females can do” and that it does not have to be a male-oriented job.

The job requires Sophie to oversee the approximately 60 feet tall, 22 tonne medieval siege equipment at the castle, culminating in a show in which she fires an 18-kg rock into the air, firing across an island, for paying visitors to see.

Sophie told PA Real Life: “My daughters think that me being the only, currently, female trebuchet master is just so inspiring.

“I think I underestimated how inspiring I would be to other people – it’s an amazing feeling.

“It makes me feel really strong and powerful both from a work and a personal perspective.

“In my personal life I’ve gone through quite a lot in the last year so doing this job feels really empowering in a way that I never thought that I could feel.

“So to me, it isn’t just about the job, it’s what it represents for females as a whole.

“I get a lot of girls coming up to me asking questions, which is amazing that this job came with that kind of responsibility. It’s just wonderful.

“I can’t believe that I do such a fun job.”

Sophie was 21 when she first worked at Warwick Castle as an actor.

She explained: “I worked mainly in the dungeons and we had an attraction back then called the Merlin Tower and I was playing the apprentice character.

“I was here just for a seasonal contract, which was the most amazing experience.”

Sophie then went on to study life sciences at the Open University from 2008 to 2011 and became a scientist – her previous jobs include training in cardiac physiology and healthcare sciences, being a physician’s assistant in anaesthetics and being a lecturer at the Open University and the University of the Third Age.

Sophie then had a career break for seven years, after giving birth to her children.

She said: “I was a full-time stay-at-home mum with my children, and we relocated and then came back to Warwick when my eldest was due to start school and we settled here and then just at the beginning of 2022, I decided it was time for me to get back to work.”

In summer 2022, she saw a job advert for her current role, and applied as she loved working there previously.

Sophie explained the interview process: “So, initially, we had a workshop day where we had to work as a group to complete tasks such as who could build a paper tower the tallest, to test our communication, listening and speaking skills.

“We were then given scenarios such as a list of priorities or a list of circumstances and we had to prioritise their circumstances and then justify our choices.

“There was no right or wrong answer … and if we were successful at that workshop, we then had an interview, which was quite a gruelling interview, asking questions about how we’d deal with high-pressure environments and operating machinery.”

Sophie thinks that her career as a scientist helped her get the role.

She said: “When I worked in anaesthetics, it was a very high-pressure job, we had to work with an anaesthetic machine.

“Every day we had to check the machine … and the machine relies heavily on different laws of physics, which we had to understand.

“I also had to have good manual dexterity too.”

When Sophie discovered she got the role she was elated.

She explained: “I was really amazed actually because the other candidates that went for the job were really strong competition.

“There were people that had worked in history and people who worked at the castle for a long time, and my background was completely different.

“So I was really just excited and grateful that I got to have a go and prove to myself that I could do it.

“I was particularly excited because I knew that I would be the only current female trebuchet master and what that representation meant to the acting team, the guests, and to my own daughters.

“That was the thing that made me think, ‘Oh my gosh, I have a real opportunity to represent what females can do and this doesn’t just need to be a male-oriented job’.”

Explaining her day-to-day role, Sophie said: “It involves getting into my trebuchet master costume. I then have to collect paperwork and go down to the island where the trebuchet is and do checks, such as checking the weather conditions.

“Obviously, if wind speeds exceed a certain level then the trebuchet can’t launch safely, so we have to do checks with our maintenance team … we do test shots every morning to check if it fires in a straight line and doesn’t deviate too much.

“Then the show is all about defending the castle from attack.

“During the show, the lead role suggests that we should use the trebuchet, and I become the trebuchet master, and the show is very informative.

“It teaches the audience a lot of facts about the trebuchet itself.

“I then fire it with the help of the team.”

On how the trebuchet works, Sophie said: “It has two huge wheels, and we walk on it like a massive hamster wheel.

“It has a tow rope which is attached to the machine and when we walk, the wheels pull the main arm of the trebuchet down.

“Once that pulls down, it’s secured in place with the safety chain and the wheels turn in the opposite direction and that releases the tow rope from the machine because if it was still attached when the machine fired, it would rip the entire machine apart.

“Everyone then leaves the machine and we load our ammunition – a rock that weighs 18 kilogrammes – to a rope which attaches to a hook at the end of the arm.

“Then I remove the safety chain and pull the trigger rope that launches the rock on average about 120 to 140 metres through the air”.

Since having the job, Sophie has found that it has brought her and her children closer together.

She said: “They absolutely love it, they are the biggest cheerleaders and supporters.

“They come to the castle all of the time and they love telling their friends what I do.”

On what she would say to others considering pursuing an unusual job, she said: “Have the courage to step out of your comfort zone and know that that fear of taking the next step is what makes you grow as a person and just go for it.

“I’m a true believer that life is too short and you shouldn’t ever get too comfortable.”