A Career in Construction - Part 16

It was worse than I remembered. I knew that at the end of 1980 Brian Gregory was promoted above me to Divisional Quantity Surveyor, but I had not remembered that my title of Regional Surveyor was abolished. I was effectively demoted back to Area QS with a reduced grading from A4 to B. Very unusually, I kept a note of this upheaval in my records. What now seems a pretty garbled and angry note to myself, at least I had it there in black and white.

"Although Mr (Brian) Warren's memo says "no alteration" (to roles and responsibilities?), there will be no doubt that others will not understand. I cannot allow this to stand on my record which (involves) (a) title and (b) grading from A4 to B. Therefore I ask that my special case be taken into consideration and another title be established. My grade is now equal to that of Project Surveyors who are directly responsible to me. Ask for an interview to discuss".

In hindsight, I believe that all Divisions were appointing Divisional Quantity Surveyors and obviously our Divisional Manager, Brian Warren, would promote his friend to the new role. It was just that my position (as joint Regional Surveyor) was so unusual. Perhaps Brian Warren would have also been happy to see me go. But Tony Whale and Mike Stafford were very supportive and my notes are then back to normal and things went on just as they were. I cannot remember Brian Gregory taking any interest in my contracts.

The Office Block at White City Industrial Park took off in early 1981 and I also became involved with a new contract at Alexandra Palace. Actually a prefabricated structure called Alexandra Pavilion.

It was not long until we were in for yet another shock. Brian Warren resigned and was gone almost immediately. I'm not sure if he was struggling to head up operations or whether he found a better job. Tony Whale was promoted to Divisional Manager, so here was boss number five. Brian Gregory remained as Divisional QS but Tony had a way of putting pressure on people and by the end of June, Brian had resigned. This seemed to co-incide with an invitation to dinner at Tony's house in Beaconsfield. Also there was Mike Ellis and it seemed that there was a promising future for this gang of three.

So someone had to take over Brian's position, and that just happened to be me. This meant I jumped a couple of grades when I became the Divisional QS. I also inherited all of Brian's own contracts. I well remember visiting the refurbishment of some offices on Baker Street that were nearing completion, and the disaster that was the apartments complex at Nine Elms. So although I was pleased with my new role, there were lots of problems to deal with. My first day in the job and I was doing staff appraisals all day, followed the next day by a meeting with the Chief QS, John Richards, who wanted to meet me and see a couple of contracts. During the same week, we signed the contract for what was to be the infamous Holiday Inn Hotel, Croydon. And the following week I was at head office for my first of many Divisional Surveyors Meetings. At 36 I was quite young, but well and truly established, in a role I had always wanted. Whether I could succeed in it, only time would tell.

Noel Coward's TONIGHT AT 8.30 at the Oxford Playhouse

Tonight at 8.30 is a set of nine, one act plays written by Noel Coward in the latter half of the 1930's. Every time I see one of English Touring Theatre's productions, I am always impressed. Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing  and Ibsen's Ghosts were both tremendous. These short plays are presented, as originally intended, in batches of three.

My evening started with Ways and Means. A light comedy about a bickering married couple, living the high life beyond their means and down on their luck, all of their own making. About to be ejected from the home of friends on French Riviera, things go from bad to worse before a savior makes an appearance. For me, I thought the dialogue was spoken far too fast and missed some of the Coward trademark laughs. I went on YouTube where the whole play is available and found how much more satisfying was the time taken to let the comedy sparkle. That is not to say last night's performance was disappointing. In fact the last fifteen minutes was superb.

More bickering in the second and shortest play Fumed Oak. This time the quiet husband has to listen while wife, daughter and mother in law argue the whole time. But it's not long before he turns the tables. Again the ending works really well.

After the interval we are treated to Still Life. It takes place over a number of weeks at the buffet of a railway station. (The sets are wonderfully adapted so they each bring their own different atmosphere to the proceedings). A doctor is waiting for his train when a married woman comes in with some grit in her eye. He manages to remove it and so begins a guilt ridden affair. Each time we meet them on a Thursday the relationship is different. Each has a family and although in love, we know they can never be together. In the background, the frivolous friendship of two couples (all single) working at the station is a nice counterpoint to the intensity of the main story. Noel Coward used this as the basis of his screenplay for the film Brief Encounter with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson and directed by David Lean.

Unusually, there is quite a large cast of nine actors. They are all pretty good. Direction is by the award winning Blanche McIntyre. She manages to bring a real sense of the 30's to plays that are fairly dated. Not as funny as I had hoped, but the contrasts of class through the three plays is quite poignant. And, well, it's Noel Coward.

Maleficent, 22 Jump Street and Belle

Why is there such a shortage of decent films in the summer. Maleficent is OK, but the terrific performance from Angelina Jolie hardly compensates for an indulgence in 3D movie making. The effects are fairly impressive (yes, it really does look good) but the story and script are predictable and somewhat juvenile.  There had to be a fun side show of three British actresses (Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville and Juno Temple) playing cheeky fairies, but their dialogue borders on the terrible. What a waste of their talent.

I always avoid American comedies but 22 Jump Street had such good reviews that in the absence of anything better, I gave it a go. It turned out to be a modern version of the comic buddy cop movie or Stakeout for the 21st century. I have to admit that there were a few laughs and the the story bubbles along nicely. I was surprised that the script and direction were so good, but I still cannot stand Jonah Hill. Channing Tatum makes a good fist of the dumb one of the pair, its just that Hill is far too prominent for my taste.

At last, a proper drama, although a historical and costume one at that. Belle is on the one hand a Pride and Prejudice romantic drama but on the other confronts race, gender and the politics of slavery head on. It is based on the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle (a superb performance from Gugu Mbatha-Raw) a black girl taken under the wing of her uncle the Earl of Mansfield and Lord Chief Justice also well played by the dependable Tom Wilkinson. At Kenwood House she is a companion for Elizabeth Murray (another niece) and they grow to be great friends.There are more great performances from Emily Watson, Penelope Wilton and Miranda Richardson. The tension is nicely tightened by a great script from Misan Sagay and superb direction from Amma Asante. Three cheers for Pinewood Picture, the BFI and others for making this important, entertaining independent movie.

Tring Book Club - One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Shock of the Fall

Only one of us at Book Club finished the Gabriel  Garcia Marquez classic One Hundred Years of Solitude and that wasn't me. Like so many others before, I could not get on with this book and I gave up about a quarter through. I found the language to be quite difficult to read, maybe because of the translation? It promised to be the sort of book I would like, a family story full of interesting characters. But unfortunately not.

The Shock of the Fall is such an emotional and brilliant book. I will always remember what happened a few days ago when I was in John Lewis, having coffee and cake, and I turned to page 179 and nearly burst into tears. Out of the blue, someone did something so nice for Mathew, our mentally challenged narrator, that I had to close the book and compose myself. Was it the tragedy (teasingly, we have to wait until near the end to know what really happened) when he was nine that hurt Mathew so badly, or did he always have a mental problem? I'm not sure if the book answers this question as, like all mental illness, it is hard to pin down the cause. But Mathew is smart, always was a gifted student, and writing his story he is an engaging, though not wholly likable, character. I loved the prose and the way the narrative dodges about different periods over the previous ten years. There is a superb technique in not telling the reader where we are in time but giving clues early enough in any one passage to make it clear. Nathan Filer is a talented author and his first novel deserved to win the Costa Book of the Year. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad and always highly readable. It is worth it just for the final chapter. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

A Career in Construction - Part 15

In the summer of 1979 I remember quite vividly being asked to join an operations meeting with just Tony Whale, Mike Stafford and Brian Warren. They were keen to exclude both the Southern Director (Colin Brooks) and Peter Horth. This seemed to be like a secret hijacking of the southern organisation. But one that, I have to admit, was very exciting.

This culminated on 17th September when David Woolf. the new MD for Henry Boot, called a meeting of senior managers where he outlined the re organisation of the Division. Colin Brooks and Peter Horth were leaving the company and the new Southern Director would be Brian Warren (my fourth boss in the fledgling Division). Brian was a really lovely guy (Bunny to his friends of course) but more of a salesman than managing operations . My notes have provided one gem in that I was to take over the Turnover and Budget Reporting from Peter Horth. Brian also insisted that Ken Ottley would no longer have any involvement so I was basically on my own. But not for long.

At the end of 1979, the company won the first phase of what would be all three extremely successful sections of a major industrial and office complex on Wood Lane for the developers Arrowcroft, opposite the BBC. This would make a huge impact on the growth of the Division and had a positive impact over the next three years.

Tony Whale was the operations manager and Mike Ellis transferred from Cheshunt as Project Manager. Tony and I already had Nuneham Park under our control as well as the end of Cheshunt and Harlow and a new contract in Huntingdon so we were forming a distinct group within the Division. We started demolition of the old buildings on Wood Lane (now called White City Industrial Park) in the New Year (the site was often used as a location for The Sweeney) and the tall chimney being blown up was shown on the news.

After the completion of Brentford, Mike Stafford relocated to Head Office in Sheffield to look after Management Contracting. Brian Warren was looking after some new fee contracts and took on an ex-colleague, Brian Gregory,  to look after the surveying. What was a shock to me was that he was employed on exactly my grade as a Regional Surveyor. I guess as he was Divisional Director, Brian Warren could do what he wanted. As it turned out, Brian Gregory and I got on really well for the next year, and formed a good working partnership to run the Division's surveying. I had enough on my plate not to have to worry about these other contracts, small though they were at that time.

One event stands out at the beginning of 1981. The groundworks  sub-contractor had been taken to arbitration by their haulage company, a dispute about the quantity of spoil removed from site. This took place at Glazier's Hall with the famous QS John Sims as Arbitrator. I was called as a witness in the afternoon of Friday 6th February. All I can remember about the cross examination was being queried about my knowledge of what happened on certain dates in the previous August. I was able to show my diary with my two weeks holiday clearly shown.

The third phase for White City was the office block and this became the focus of our attention for 1981.

Unfortunately I was soon in for yet another shock.

A Delicate Truth, The Lie and An Officer and a Spy

The first two thirds of A Delicate Truth is John Le Carre at his best. However we are in deep thriller territory and the story is so constructed as to make for an exciting movie. But the writing is first class and the characters well drawn. There is a sense of menace that pervades every page. It is all about the cover up of a covert operation that goes wrong, the Foreign Office is deeply implicated. Our two main protagonists, though innocent of any wrongdoing, are, unknown to one another, separately implicated and only become aware of each other's role later in the book as they both seek the truth. But what to do with it when then know is the big question. Disappointingly, I found the climax a little unsatisfactory and contrived. But I guess any ending to this sorry affair would be so.

After my struggle with "One Hundred Years Of Solitude", it was a real pleasure to read one of our best modern writers. I had thought twice about The Lie, a story of a soldier's return from the first world war, especially after finding "Birdsong" hard going. But Helen Dunmore brings a delicate touch to Daniel's devastating experiences in France. We are in Cornwall in 1920. Daniel is living on the land of a sick elderly lady near the coastal town that was his home. And so begins the lie. He has visions of his "close" friend Frederick whose death has so effected him. The fact that the war is seen in hindsight and that this part of the story regularly alternates with Daniel's present means it does not dwell too long on the horrors of the trenches. Dunmore is such an accomplished writer that it was a delight to pick up where I left off even though the subject matter was no fun. Excellent.

A mix of two genres that I normally try to avoid, thrillers and historical fiction. But An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris had such good reviews and the story sounded quite interesting. It was certainly a page turner, 600 pages in ten days is fast reading for me. I just might have been wanting to get to the end. But it is all plot, too much happens and there are just so many characters. Yes, the suspense is cranked up as our narrator falls deeper and deeper into trouble. I guess that of it's type this is a superior novel, just not the sort of book I like.

A Career in Construction - Part 14

January 3rd 1979, my first day back after the Christmas holiday and I was in for a shock. My boss, Ken Ottley, was our chief QS. He had moved down from Yorkshire Region with Peter Horth to run the new Southern operations. He wasn't in the office as I had expected. He had been moved to the Birmingham office where the whole of the management team there had been sacked that morning. In their absence, Ken was to manage the run down of that region's contracts, most of which were those housing disasters I previously described.

So where did that leave me? Made up to Regional Surveyor and made responsible for all commercial activities in the south. If there were two major breakthroughs in my career, one would be being made Area Surveyor for the four contracts in Peterborough and the other would be this. Both had a lot of luck attached. I didn't know when I moved to Peterborough that the company would win all those contracts, and the company having to move Ken to Birmingham left open another opportunity.

I mentioned those notebooks I started in June 1977. I have them all to when I retired. Unfortunately they are really just lists of things to do with the odd record of meetings, valuations etc. So as a record of anything of interest, they are a complete waste of time. Same with all my diaries. Just appointments so of very limited value now. So I have actually no idea exactly when I was made Regional Surveyor. But I do know I was meeting Peter Horth to discuss Regional Budget Reports, interviewing for new staff and attending Divisional Management Meetings. (With the demise of Birmingham Region, we had become the Southern Division).

I was still in touch with Ken Ottley, even travelling to Birmingham to see him. But he never visited High Wycombe again. It was great having my own office in High Wycombe, although it seems I was hardly there. A lot was happening in the first few months of 1979. Cheshunt and Brentford were still taking a lot of my time. We were winning new contracts. The most important of these was the refurbishment of Nuneham Park. Rothmans had acquired this lasted building in the village of Nuneham Courtney in Oxfordshire, and were prepared to spend a fortune making it their centre for training and functions. It was my first involvement with refurbishment works and definitely one of my favourite contracts.

But there were tensions within the organisation. The three operations managers, all ex- Bovis: Tony Whale, Mike Stafford and Brian Warren seemed to be forming a cabal whilst Colin Brooks and Peter Horth were becoming isolated. Things would come to a head in September.

A Day at RHS Wisley

I had been meaning to visit the Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens at Wisley for a long, long time. I wanted to go in June when the roses would be at their best, and on Wednesday a beautiful day coincided with a quiet week for us both.

It was already warm when we arrived and after looking at the Walled Gardens and the Wild Garden we headed for the Glasshouse. But before we went in we had a quick cuppa at the cafe next door. Fortified after the journey, we toured the exotic plants of The Glasshouse.

We were impressed by the terraced  landscaping outside and The Glasshouse Borders.

Alison loved the poppies at Hilltop.

By this time it was 1.30pm and time for lunch. We happened to be right by The Honest Sausage cafe so we indulged in sharing one bacon and one sausage roll. The outdoor eating area was sheltered and spacious.
Next to the Herb Garden and a shady bench to sit and rest.

At last we came to the Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden. But it was the Jubilee Rose Garden that took my breath away. It was worth the entrance fee (a highly reasonable £11) on it's own.

My favourite was a pink chocolate rose.

The whole garden was quite spectacular and there were only a few visitors there.

We still had plenty of time left to tour the main borders that were close to the end of our circuit of the gardens. But being only June, some of the summer perennials had yet to bloom. So next time we will go later in the year. However, nothing could compare to the rose gardens at their absolute best.

Transcendence, Godzilla and Edge of Tomorrow

You can tell it's nearly summer when the cinema screens are full of blockbusters or American comedies. As I avoid the latter at all costs, and superhero movies have lost their appeal, I'm left with mainly science fiction. Fortunately these three are not bad at all. The worst thing about Transcendence is Johnny Depp. It's as if he has a bad hangover or the flue and is articulating through a haze of aspirin. Apart from that, the movie has a decent story and a tolerable screenplay by Jack Paglen. The director, Wally Pfister, makes reasonable use of his big budget with some interesting set pieces and Rebecca Hall and Paul Bettany bring some class to an otherwise disappointing cast.

I had to see Godzilla twice (both times in 2D). The first time was the opening day and I had avoided all the early reviews. The best part this first time was the opening redacted credits. Fantastic. But I became totally confused as, having (wrongly) expected our friendly monster to put in an early appearance, I originally mistook him for the first Muto. Well who wouldn't be confused when the star doesn't appear until well over halfway through. The second time things were a whole lot clearer and more enjoyable as a result. Gareth Edwards does a great job as director. Some spectacular sets that reminded me of Spielberg at his best.

It's a hard job to make a movie interesting when the same day is repeated over and over. So it is to director Doug Liman's credit that he cleverly edits the action so as to make the whole thing a pleasing experience. What I hadn't expected, and what this movie has in bucket loads, is that is pretty witty. Tom Cruise is touchingly funny as the cowardly Major dumped into the front line of an alien war. Emily Blunt is solid as his co-star. The script is far superior for such a sci fi blockbuster. Writer Christopher McQuarrie is a close associate of our Tom, but the real surprise is that he is joined by playwright Jez Butterworth (the creator of Jerusalem) and his brother John-Henry with whom he also wrote the award winning screenplay for Fair Game directed by .... Doug Liman. This combination has turned what could have been just a boring action film into a more thoughtful and enjoyable story. OK, the fights with the aliens do go on just a fraction too long but these are soon forgotten. So a nice surprise.

Moving Plants Around The Garden

Having spent some time this morning moving some plants around the garden (the main side border has accidentally developed into a symphony of purple, pink and white  and a red Salvia stood out like a sore thumb and had to be moved), I was reminded of two quotations in my Illustrated Gardener's Notebook.

Alan Titchmarsh says "Use the time to muse over your successes and failures, and jot them down, lest you forget. Plants to order. Plants to ditch. Plants to move, and plants to give away to those who've been wise enough to admire them".

H.E. Bates says "A garden should be in a constant state of fluid change, expansion, experiment, adventure; above all it should be an inquisitive, loving but self-critical journey on the part of it's owner".

I'm just happy that anything grows at all and am constantly surprised when plants come into flower.