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WOW, what did your boss think of all this!?
Another great read.
One other point - these were the days before ''Lawyers for You'' and 'No win no fee'' had come on the scene. I've had a clicky neck ever since that day - imagine the claims I would have in today's market for compensation.
during the firemens strike in the early 70s i was seconded to a fire station in north london.
i must confess that these days were some of the funniest days in my life.because none of us knew the area,we had a permenant police escort,to giude us to the emergencies.
the one that springs to mind to begin with was, We were called out to rescue a cat that got itself stuck in a hole in a tree, we got there,put the ladders up and rescued the cat. the old dear that owned it was over the moon.
unfortunatly, when we left,we ran over the cat. talk about hero to zero,it didnt help matters that the police were in stiches,as we tried to get the dead body from in between the rear wheels.
next we were called to a chimney fire, we could see the smoke from a hundred yards away,so the plan was to get the ladders out and fight the fire from above,rather from below.
There we were, hoses running up to the roof,and water being poured down the offending chimney,
unfortunatly,it was the wrong stack,and the lady of the house was only trying to get the fire started,to get hot water.
other stories will come as i remember them
We moved to Wales in 1979. We had looked around for months but eventually found a lovely old (1828) ex-farmhouse in a village near Wrexham. The house was made of sandstone and my wife fell in love with it from the start. Before I start on the ''sandstorm'' bit of the story, just a quick rendition of what happened the day we moved in.
We had moved in, got curtains sorted and even managed to cook a meal before deciding to have an early night. We sat in bed feeling shattered but happy when my wife commented on the fitted wardrobes in our bedroom. ''I'm not sure I like them doors'' she said. I replied that they looked OK to me and were probably home-made as the guy we had bought the house off was a joiner, but no she didn't like them. ''They look like coffin lids, they'll have to go'' was her conclusion, and with that we settled down to sleep.
At about 2am we were woken by a knocking at the front door. I went downstairs and opened the door and there was a guy standing there looking rather distressed. Before I could speak he said ''my Mother has died'' I said I was very sorry to hear that but how could I help him. ''Well'' he said, ''I want you to bury her for me''
It's been a long day, I'm tired and it's 2am. We have just moved to darkest Wales and my mind started to go into overdrive at this point. Was this some ancient welsh ritual, perhaps a village custom or some sort of secret burial sect we had stumbled across?
I said I wasn't sure how I could help and he said ''well your the undertaker if you can't help who can'' There followed a conversation between a tired and befuddled me and an obviously distressed and frustrated stranger. It turned out the guy we bought the house from was indeed a joiner and also the village undertaker. The wardrobes were removed the next day.
Now onto the sandstorm bit of the story. We loved the house but the stonework had never been cleaned in more than 100 years. We decided to have it cleaned up. I had a builder recommended to me and after some discussion we gave him the job. Monday morning he turned up to clean the stonework on the house with a ........ power-jet hosepipe and some chemicals. I was setting off for work but had to comment on the ''equipment'' they were intending to use. I was assured it would do the job and so off I went to work.
I got home later, just as they were packing up ready to go. I looked for the freshly cleaned stonework but couldn't find it so asked how it had gone. They explained that it was a tougher job than they had anticipated and that they had some stronger chemicals on order for tomorrow. Next day was very much the same as the previous day. They had managed to clean two of the stones and seemed very pleased with themselves. I asked if they were planning to continue with the chemical cleaner and they said yes. I pointed out that the rate of cleaning, ie. 2 stones in one day, would mean that they would be on the job for the next 2 years. They thhought about this for a while then decided that they might be better to go down the sandblasting route. I agreed.
Next day the sandblasting kit arrived. The compressor was the size of a small bus and the pipes were 6 inch diameter - this is BIG kit by any standard. Satisfied that this would definitely do the job I left for work, just as the first 10 tonne wagon-load of sand arrived.
That evening I drove home eagerly anticipating how the house would look with gleaming sandstone walls instead of the smoke blackened walls we had when I left that morning. The house can be seen from the end of the lane but before the house came into view I was struck by what appeared to have been a heavy snowfall over the entire area - in August!!!
The drive down to the house was a mixture of emotions for me. The house looked stunning with the most beautiful sandstone walls, looking like the day it was built 100 years before. However negotiating the 4 inches of sand which covered the road for 100 yds in every direction was a little tricky. Seeing my neighbours houses, trees and cars all covered with 4 inches of sand only added to the emotion of the moment. The group of neighbours waiting at the house gates was a little disturbing but you couldn't deny that the house looked fantastic. It turned out that the builders had omitted to order the scaffolding and covers needed to contain the sand but decided to crack on with it anyway. They had used 30 tonnes of sand!
In a tribute to my neighbours, there were no harsh words, we never fell-out with any of them and they all joined in with the builders and myself in cleaning up the road. The sand on the houses and trees took a few weeks to dissipate with the rainfall and all was well. However, there were some puzzled looks from the local water company employees later that year, when all the water drains became clogged up and had to be dredged.