An unusual calm hovered, albeit precariously, as Katy and Jo grudgingly completed another assignment and Sue buried herself in her book. Dave’s arrival was an excuse for all three to take a break.
Dave heard of their various activities, in particular Sue’s preparations for her family history trip, which was due within the next couple of weeks. She was intending to obtain copies of the birth certificates for her grandparents. These were held at Somerset House. It seemed, however, that it was necessary to carry out one’s own searches through the records. She was comforted in the knowledge that she would not be alone, as one of her fellow passengers on the trip was also visiting Somerset House and, as she was an old hand, would probably be able to get her started. Peter and the other woman were planning to visit The Society of Genealogists.
*
Dave learned that the manufacture of his test vessel was complete and being delivered to Winford. He made plans to travel down to the site with Gritty, to organise its assembly into the steam turbine pipework. As this would be a two day job arrangements were made for an overnight stay in Lyndhurst.
Dave asked Ian to store the pre-cracked specimens which he had received from Joe Griffiths. He also mentioned his own intention of including some extra specimens that did not contain cracks. The purpose of these was to determine whether cracks could initiate under normal ‘uncontaminated’ steam conditions without having any pre-existing defect present. He accepted that this was extremely unlikely, but it would eliminate any lingering doubts that cracks could form during normal turbine operation. He regarded this as good science.
What he required were specimens to be manufactured from the Winford LP disc material, in the form of long bolts, loaded into an open steel frame through which steam could flow. The specimens would be stressed using locking nuts. He sketched what he had in mind. Ian, being both intelligent and resourceful, would, Dave was confident, be able to get the frame with its loaded specimens organised by the time the on-site test vessel was ready.
Dave arranged to pick up Gritty en route to Winford. He started early. Gritty was waiting at his front gate, ever keen and reliable. They arrived at Winford and were in high spirits now that the long tedious preparation period was over, things were now on the move. But not for long.
“No chance of a fitter until after lunch,” Dave was told. So he and Gritty spent the morning checking the test site around the steam inlet to the LP section of Number 5 turbine, deciding where best to position the test vessel. They found a suitable space on the turbine operating floor.
It was four o’clock when the fitter arrived. Although this was annoying, as far as the experiment was concerned, a short delay was not a problem as the length of the test was likely to be several months. Dave’s concern was that Number 5 turbine which they’d been allocated for their experiment, was due to return to service the following evening and, as the Senior Maintenance Engineer had so succinctly announced, ‘It’s steam-to-set at five o’clock tomorrow even if you’re inside the bloody thing’.
“Right you are gents,” said the fitter on his arrival, “where’s the permit?” It was following this remark that a naive Dave was instructed on the ‘permit to work’ system which every power station operates. In brief, he learned that it was a safety system organised by the permit office, who issued permits, locks and keys to the person undertaking the work. The plant item covered by the permit was disabled and could not be operated until the permit had been returned. So Dave needed a permit for his work on the LP steam system. The fact that Dave couldn’t fault the logic did little to soothe his temper. The final straw was the queue of people awaiting attention in the permit office. Naturally this was always busiest during overhaul periods. So as Dave and Gritty made their way to their digs in Lyndhurst, they could reflect that all they had achieved in one full day was finally obtaining a permit to do some work.
*
Sue was delighted when Peter called to ask if she was free the following day as they were having to bring their London trip forward. One of the ladies had a hospital appointment on the original day, he explained. Sue, having confirmed that Betty Potter could take Jo and Katy after school, had agreed.
*
It was an early start, but Sue found no difficulty in getting out of bed. Her interest in family history had been building; gradually dominating her thoughts. Even during sleep the subject had not been completely erased with the result that, before becoming fully conscious, a ghostly vision of an imagined ancestor hovered around her bed, beckoning; urging her awake.
It was a pleasant drive up to London with an abundance of chatter on all things genealogical between the two elderly women. Peter had been quiet, which may have been due to the need to concentrate on negotiating the rush-hour traffic. However, during a lull in the conversation, he explained to Sue that he would park the car under the Hammersmith flyover and they would pick up the tube from there.
All four took the District Line, with Peter and Beryl getting off at Gloucester Road, as they were visiting the Society of Genealogists’ library, whilst Sue and Kathleen stayed on until Temple. The two of them climbed the hill up to the Strand and turned left to Somerset House. This building housed the birth, marriage and death certificates of all residents of England and Wales who had been registered since July 1837.
It came as a shock to Sue that she would not be searching through certificates, but through indexes and she was disappointed to learn that she would not have anything to take home with her that day. Any copies she ordered would be posted on to her.
*
Dave’s patience was sorely tried early on his second day at Winford. He had thought that, having obtained the permit to work and having his fitter and mate, all would be well, but then another obstacle – the safety man – made further difficulties. The test vessel, he was informed, could not be sited where they had planned – ‘a clear hazard if ever he’d seen one’. Therefore, it would have to be positioned further away between two existing steam pipes, out of the main walkway. An additional requirement was that the test vessel and all its associated pipework, would have to be insulated to protect other workers, as these items would be hot when operating. Having thus spoken, he consulted his clipboard, scanned down its itemised list, before moving on to spoil someone else’s morning.
After some head scratching and intakes of breath, Dave’s fitter measured up the various pipe runs and identified suitable valve positions before returning to his workshop to begin cutting pipe to size. Later, he informed Dave, he would be back to sort out the routing and bending of the pipe sections required to bring the sampled steam, from the overhead LP turbine steam inlet supply, down to the test vessel’s new location. Gritty and Dave were left to survey the test vessel and consider how best to position it in the area now required by the safety officer.
“It’s going to be a tight squeeze,” Gritty observed, and Dave agreed. Between them they attempted to manoeuvre the vessel, which, in effect, was a large diameter, stainless steel cylinder with flanges top and bottom, several pipe entry bosses and fixing lugs. It was cumbersome and surprisingly heavy.
*
“I do believe they are getting heavier,” observed Sue to her companion as she carried another large volume and set it down with a thump on the sloping shelf. The other woman smiled in silent agreement.
The indexes of births, through which Sue was searching, were large, heavy, leather-bound volumes stretching seemingly endlessly along the shelving which lined the walls. The three separate sections, births, marriages and deaths, were divided up by narrow balconies. Each section began in July 1837 and ran chronologically up to the present day, every year being divided into quarters.
Sue began her search of the indexes looking for her grandfather, Harry Boughton. As she knew his age was twenty three from his marriage certificate in early 1902, she started with the January – March Volume for 1879, but without success, so she had to progress through the rest of that year and then into 1880 – another four heavy volumes – with no sign of Harry Boughton. Oh dear, this wasn’t going to be as straightforward as she had imagined. Sue decided to try the years either side of the two years she had searched through and then, in the second volume, April – June of 1878, she found his entry. Despite feeling self-conscious, she experienced much joy at this, her first find. As she was to learn, this reaction never seemed to diminish, each success producing the same jolt of pleasure. Sue completed the application form for a copy of the original certificate, noting down his name, the place of registration (Aston), the volume, date and quarter plus an index reference number.
She next moved on to Harry’s wife, Florence Daniel, in Birmingham, but another problem arose when she found several entries of that name in the indexes for the likely years and no obvious way of knowing which was her ancestor. She felt that it would be more useful to use the remaining time by moving on to her paternal grandparents Tom Turner and Caroline Jane Loomes, hoping to find a Caroline who was born in Paddington. She was less certain of the dates for these, as she had only the guesses that Uncle Stan had made to go on and it was very many books later – arms tired, back sore and feeling hot and sticky – before she found the likely entries and completed the request forms. Sue handed these in with the fee (7/6d each) and after self-addressing an envelope, she was finished. She realised that there was the possibility that the people that she’d identified might not be her ancestors. There could be other Tom Turners, for example, born in Birmingham around the same time as her grandfather. There was no way of knowing from the indexes alone and so she would have to wait until the copies of the certificates arrived. As she made her way back to the tube, she checked the time and was surprised when she found how long it had taken just to complete these first few steps.
*
“This will take forever,” complained Dave, giving the test vessel a violent shake, for the umpteenth time.
“Dave. Dave. Let’s just leave it for a minute,” advised Gritty, stepping back and wiping his brow on the sleeve of his overall.
They had been struggling unsuccessfully for almost half an hour, the turbine hall was noisy, hot and humid, and they were both sweating profusely. The turbines either side of the one upon which they were working were operating and the floor throbbed with the vibrations created. There were plumes of steam emanating from vents here and there, adding to the humidity.
The situation was a tantalising one as, although it appeared that the test vessel would just fit into the space between the two large pipes, it simply refused to go into that position. Was it an optical illusion? The lugs welded to the sides didn’t help, but even so it seemed possible that it should fit.
Dave succumbed reluctantly to Gritty’s entreaty and they both went to the mess room for a drink and a well-earned break. Gritty, ever sensible, was right. A five minute rest and reflection was likely to be more beneficial than continuing the struggle.
They discussed progress, or rather the lack of it. It was not only the problem of getting the test vessel positioned, but the construction of the necessary steam piping was not progressing well either. The fitter and his mate had appeared periodically from their workshop with variously shaped sections and, as often as not, after shaking their heads they returned to their lair. Time was running out quickly, as Dave regularly reminded anyone who cared to listen. Gritty could sense how short Dave’s temper was becoming, with outright rage only just beneath the surface of his colleague’s sweaty, grimy, exterior. Although they had removed most of their clothing beneath their overalls, it still felt as though they were working in a tropical rain forest.
“Right, back to it. It’s almost two o’clock,” urged Dave, lifting himself stiffly from a stool.
A surprising sight greeted them when they returned to the waiting turbine, with half a dozen men cheerfully working away above and below the turbine floor level. The mate explained that all the necessary piping had been cut and shaped and Fred (his fitter) had persuaded some of his colleagues to help with the assembly and fixing. A bit of good news at last.
Dave felt under particular pressure as this was his first major job; the first real test of his management skills. He thought that he had performed well since joining the SSA and in that respect, had been appreciated by both his Section Head and his colleagues. That, however, had been the kind of work for which he had been trained and had practised for many years at Fisher’s Tubes. This was different. It was larger, in every sense, than laboratory based work. He was in charge and having to deal with practical men under on-site conditions. It was new to him, but was the kind of operation that he was expected to be competent to cope with. He had his test facility to get organised at Thornton Power Station when this investigation was completed, which, he assumed, would require similar qualities.
Well, at least things were now moving along, though he and Gritty had not made much progress themselves. Yet another half an hour, feeling physically drained, they had still not succeeded. The tempers of both men were fraying and, as Gritty gave the test vessel an unwelcome tug just as his colleague had his side positioned, Dave exploded in a torrent of expletives which the ever willing Gritty certainly did not deserve. Dave then proceeded to push – pull – shake and twist the vessel as violently as his waning strength and sweating palms would allow until his temper was assuaged. Gritty took up the struggle manfully, tugging and kicking, but with equal futility as his comrade. To the casual observer, this must have presented a comic scene reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy in the days of black and white films. They had to let it go. Their energy spent.
“Bastard thing,” Gritty observed with feeling, offering a final puny kick. “It’s not helping having to hold it above floor level. When Alan designed it he imagined that the vessel would be supported by its pipe connections, but it would have been better to have had some feet welded to the bottom so that it could rest on the floor.”
Dave nodded. “It’s too late for that now,” he replied wearily, “they’re beginning to seal up the turbine. The steam is due to be on in less than three hours. It’s clear that we’re going to have to get those lugs cut off and then re-welded on after we’ve got it into position,” he added with evident resignation. Once the turbine was returned to the operations department it would be kept running for eighteen months unless something major occurred.
He felt sick; a wave of complete dejection passed through him. He had been so pleased to have been selected to represent the department upon this prestigious committee – his first chance to really impress. He felt that this had been an opportunity to take his place amongst the other well respected scientists, but now, when confronted with actually making his only real contribution to the investigation, he had failed. Joe and the scientists from the Slough labs were obtaining useful, probably vital, publishable results and what had he got? Nothing.
“Hang on a bloody minute,” exclaimed Gritty, jumping up from the impromptu seat he had made of a flange on the turbine casing. “We are being bloody stupid. It’s the bloody woods and trees thing. If we’re quick we can save the situation.”
He went on to point out the – blatantly obvious when you came to think of it – solution, at least for the time being. Their pressing problem was that the turbine had to start operation shortly, whilst their test didn’t. A day or two here or there didn’t matter to them. Lateral thinking maybe, but all they needed to do was to get a length of pipe welded into the LP steam line before the turbine went back into service. The pipe would have to be fitted with an isolation valve, which would be kept closed whilst the turbine was operating, until they had their own test vessel and Bunsen’s sampler attached. So the turbine could start up as planned and they could get their test rig assembled over the next day or so. It could be connected to their isolating valve whilst the turbine was running and when they were ready, they would open the valve to extract their steam and begin the experiment.
After a certain amount of rushing around, the pipe and isolating valve was fitted into the main steam line, just before they were ordered to return their permit (the last one out!) to the office. With sighs all around, the turbine was gradually brought into operation according to system plans.
Dave and Gritty left Winford, both of them keen to get home. The situation had been saved and, although they were pleased, the rigors of the past two days had taken their toll.
Their journey back into Wiltshire was made in good time and, after apologising for his show of temper, Dave dropped Gritty off. It was dark but Dave was surprised to find his house also in darkness. Not the welcome for which he had hoped. The house was empty and cold and he had only just turned the heating on when the door burst open.
“Daddy, will you tell Jo off, she’s been so mean to me?” whined Katy, throwing her school satchel on to a chair. She flopped onto the sofa pouting.
“Katy, I’ve only just got home myself. Where’s Jo and Mummy anyway? And get your satchel off there and take it to your room.”
“I’m here,” called Jo from the hallway. “We saw you drive past. We were at the Potters’ and don’t take any notice of old misery drawers there, she’s been a pest all day.”
“Not true, fat face.”
“Never mind that, where’s your mother?”
Jo told her father that Sue had gone up to London, which came as an unwelcome surprise, as he thought that her trip wasn’t planned for another week. He supposed that he would have to get his own tea. Jo said that they had been fed by Mrs Potter.
Dave was cold, the heating had been off all day. He felt irritable as he sorted through the fridge to find something to eat. A few minutes later Sue arrived. She was immediately accosted by Katy, who reiterated details of Jo’s meanness. Sue placated her daughter and greeted Dave pleasantly.
“Sorry I’m a bit late, but it was worth it.”
She was tired and achy but she had had a good day.
“How did your work go love?” she enquired, putting her arm around Dave’s waist as he sawed away at a loaf. Dave muttered a response. Despite his best efforts, his irritability surfaced and he complained that he hadn’t known that she was going to London, adding, rather unnecessarily, that the house had been freezing when he got in. Sue, noted his manner, but decided to maintain her bright mood.
“Never mind love, we’re all home now and it’s warming up already. I’ll make us a hot drink shortly, after I’ve had a quick shower. You can’t imagine how hard I’ve worked today.”
Rather stiffly Dave replied that his day had been quite hard too.
“Well, you can relax now and put your feet up,” she persisted.
This didn’t ease her husband’s ill humour, which was not improved when the hostility between the girls, who had been sitting on the sofa making faces at each other, escalated into a pinching competition, with accompanying verbal abuse.
“Will you two just clear out?” shouted their father above their cries.
The girls obeyed, though a pushing-pulling match, beginning in the doorway, persisted up the stairs until the slamming of two doors signalled the end, for the present at least.
“It seems from your mood that your work didn’t go so well,” Sue observed.
“Things were just very hard for a couple of days, that’s all,” Dave grumbled, “and then to find you out with your friends…”
“What? Just what’s that supposed to mean?” Sue was deviating from her soothing mode. “You knew that I was going up to London sometime. It just happens that the day was brought forward, that’s all.”
“Well, not to a very convenient time.”
“Convenient for whom? For Christ’s sake, Dave, I’ve been stuck in this house, more or less continuously, for weeks and then when I get the rare chance to go out and do something other than baking bloody tarts with the WI, it doesn’t suit your convenience – well bloody tough luck.” Having made her point, Sue went to the doorway with the intention of taking her shower, but before she got through, she decided that Dave required a further insight into her thoughts.
“Do you fit any of your jaunts around me? I know that you are keen to make progress at work and I support you in that, but it seems that you’d rush off and do any fiddling, piddling, job you liked, without giving a second thought to how convenient, as you call it, it is to me, and that even includes bloody skittles too.” Having got those thoughts off her chest, Sue went for a tearful shower.
Dave was surprised by the suddenness and ferocity of his wife’s fusillade. He felt aggrieved and it was the reference to skittles that stung most. It was a few days later before the Harrison household returned to something like normality, though a suggestion of residual resentment still lingered.