I try to interperse the serious postings in this blog with anecdotes illustrating the lighter side of life. Just of late, no one on the firm has done anything spectacularly wrong so I am a bit short of humerous subject matter. To rectify this I will relate two true stories, one from this summer and one from the distant past.
At Hartlepool carnival, a young local lad found himself trapped on top of the rocks on the seafront due to the tide turning quicker than he realised. A couple of showmen were alerted to this and went to effect a rescue. They threw a lifebelt (a circular inflated device attached to a rope, the idea being it keeps the victim afloat and you pull him into the shore), to the unfortunate lad, probably the correct thing to do under the circumstances. Unfortunately in the spirit of Larry, Moe and Curley, they didn't think to hold the other end of the rope and promptly threw this into the sea as well! This time the gods were in a benevolent mood as the very next wave brought the end of the rope back into their reach. After holding on this time they brought the lad close enough for one of them to rush into the sea and grab him. All in all a brave thing to do, even if it did look like a scene from the three stooges.
The second incident happened a long time ago. My old man and his friend Frank were working for a scrap metal merchent during the close season. They were helping him recover buses that were due to be scrapped. One day they were both in a bus without an engine, that was being towed back to the scrap yard. As they passed through the high street at Darlington, the tow rope snapped, leaving them to coast silently to a stop at the side of the road. Unfortunately they had stopped in a bus stop! Before they could gather their wits, the queue of people promptly boarded and sat down waiting for the conductor to collect their fares. Another moment of high farce ensured as they tried to convince people that they were not the scheduled bus service and that they couldn't take anyone anywhere!
On a business front, we are involved with this years Durham Christmas festival. We will be supplying a number of old fashioned sidestalls and catering barrows to the Millenium Square section of town, as well as positioning barrows in the entrance to one of the shopping centres and hopefully our helter skelter into the market square.
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At Hartlepool carnival, a young local lad found himself trapped on top of the rocks on the seafront due to the tide turning quicker than he realised. A couple of showmen were alerted to this and went to effect a rescue. They threw a lifebelt (a circular inflated device attached to a rope, the idea being it keeps the victim afloat and you pull him into the shore), to the unfortunate lad, probably the correct thing to do under the circumstances. Unfortunately in the spirit of Larry, Moe and Curley, they didn't think to hold the other end of the rope and promptly threw this into the sea as well! This time the gods were in a benevolent mood as the very next wave brought the end of the rope back into their reach. After holding on this time they brought the lad close enough for one of them to rush into the sea and grab him. All in all a brave thing to do, even if it did look like a scene from the three stooges.
The second incident happened a long time ago. My old man and his friend Frank were working for a scrap metal merchent during the close season. They were helping him recover buses that were due to be scrapped. One day they were both in a bus without an engine, that was being towed back to the scrap yard. As they passed through the high street at Darlington, the tow rope snapped, leaving them to coast silently to a stop at the side of the road. Unfortunately they had stopped in a bus stop! Before they could gather their wits, the queue of people promptly boarded and sat down waiting for the conductor to collect their fares. Another moment of high farce ensured as they tried to convince people that they were not the scheduled bus service and that they couldn't take anyone anywhere!
On a business front, we are involved with this years Durham Christmas festival. We will be supplying a number of old fashioned sidestalls and catering barrows to the Millenium Square section of town, as well as positioning barrows in the entrance to one of the shopping centres and hopefully our helter skelter into the market square.
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