'What?' I hear you cry.
Let me explain...
Hubby and I had recently stumbled on James May's Programme about model railway enthusiasts and much enjoyed his droll sense of humour. So when we found him tackling the awesome task of completely reassembling an old petrol-driven mower, we watched in fascination.
Laid out immaculately on a white sheet on a bench-top, were 322 individual mechanical parts. May had the original line-drawings only to go by, and accompanied by his trademark dry sense of humour, set to work on the mammoth task of reassembly.
Much twiddling and clunking later (10 hours plus - edited!), the lawn-mower appeared complete and we were sharing with him the fearful anticipation as to whether the engine would actually start! It did of course and we happily and metaphorically mowed the grass with him.
May confessed he'd been hooked by lawn mowers since being allowed to cut the grass with his parents' mower as a 12 year-old, and that had led to his lifetime interest in engineering. My own older grandson is the same and for the much the same reason.
I myself have never been remotely interested in the mechanics of anything but had I seen that riveting programme in my youth, and had there been equal opportunities for girls back then, I might well have considered the challenges of engineering as a career!
The mower itself was a Suffolk Colt, made entirely at the Suffolk Foundry. Another subject I hope to return to...
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