Crepuscular Rays

Well, if everyone else is doing it you've just got to join in! Early light after a cloudy start.

I had a really enjoyable day at work, undertaking tasks that I haven't done for more than 20 years. We inspect factories and other potentially polluting businesses as part of our duties for the local authority. For many years this has been done by colleagues, Including Stella2 who is a recent addition to the Blip community. With her retirement and a replacement yet to take up his post we needed to carry out some inspections.

In my early days with the Council I was responsible for introducing duties set out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Amongst them was a new inspection regime for businesses that could cause harm to the atmosphere. It was all new, I even arranged training for other Midland authorities.

Anyway I had to visit and inspect an aluminium foundry. It was thoroughly pleasing to see the same works manager as I had dealt with more than 20 years ago. We had a good reminisce over better times; his business is all but ticking over with only 30 staff compared with over 300 in their heyday. I've always loved seeing things being made and watching them cast tops for smoke grenades was great fun. These days people mostly see foundries in museums but I was fortunate in my early days to visit major factories in the West Midlands, including places where they cast massive parts using pits in the floor of the buildings.

How times have changed.