They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, the other morning when we got up early to go and fetch my mother in law from Cardiff airport we were going along the M4 when Port Talbot Steel works came in to view. The sun was rising and the works were engulfed in steam. I was very taken by the image and I have tried to give you an idea of what it was like in the little painting above (6ins x 3 ins). I cannot say it is an accurate depiction as flying long the motorway gives you fleeting glances at best.
Anyway there it is with the pylons in the foreground over the town and the steelworks surrounded in their own mystery.
I may have mentioned this story before but it is appropriate and worth repeating. Many years ago I was policing in the centre of Birmingham. I was working nights and we had just had a change of boundaries so we were taking in a new section of the City. I was given the new section to cover. All went well until about 1am when I saw sparks and flames coming from a large factory complex. I immediately "called in" the fire requesting the fire brigade attendance to a large factory fire. I "proceeded" to make my way around the factory which was surrounded by a large wall on all sides. I eventually came to what was the front of the factory and saw it was the Spartan Foundry. I could now hear the sounds of the fire engines and other police cars arriving. It was now clear to me that they had been stoking the furnaces and to make matters worse there was now no sign of any flames. My sergeant came up to me and I told him what had happened.
He left me to explain to the unamused occupants of three shiny fire engines why I had disturbed their night's sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment