Journal Entry 12 - How do they do that?

At one time the club used only a small 'hut' on the footprint of the concrete plinth under the main container but eventually this proved too small for all the bosses we needed and eventually the club bought it's first storage unit. Just in time as the hut almost fell to nothing while in the process of removal. So how did we get a container and what work goes into the process?

I promised to create a journal page, but then lost all the photos for a while, after the club bought a second container for extra storage due to the planned but sudden move to 'foam' bosses. The number of bosses needed was too high to store in the space we had available even at the council storage on North Shields and it was decided to source local extra space, viz - a container. Add to that the need to re-paint the 'old' container after two years since it's last tidy. Also we needed to look for a time when the field would be firm enough to take the weight of a delivery, it was summer before things were right for the job to be considered.

Thanks go initially to Julie Bews who had the contact details needed at 'Nixon's' to allow Charlie and Kath to visit and view suitable containers. Now here I must note that I thought a container was a container, but this isn't so! SOME containers are 'single' use whereas others are 'multi' use. What's the difference? Thickness of plate used and build quality. Thanks to Julie a suitable container was sourced and scheduled for delivery. Close to a couple of thousand when you take all the paint, sleepers and initial cost.... and that's where your target fees go! As we run our outdoor competitions in August, and needed to also buy and store the new bosses, PLUS find a window in the weather that allowed the field to be firm, time was tight but delivery was booked. Len Rathbone, Charlie and Mark Robertson meanwhile layed the sleepers to take the weight of the new container and the gate was opened wide for the lorry (not easy) by Kath, Len, Edna and Charlie. So far so good. All we needed now was the container!

Charlie admits amazement how the driver can swing a container of this size into a gap that has been manicured to perfection with no space either side. On one side we have the back of one container and to the other the trees and bushes at the edge of the field, but in it went first time with only an inch or so to spare! The next job was to paint or re-paint so that everything matched. The final job would be to weatherproof the roof, but that comes later. It was painted with an undercoat of battleship grey by Terry, Kath, Edna, Len, Lee Blenkinsop and James Aitchison because Charlie had done his bit and wanted a snooze!

As is usual we suffer from graffiti. Some years worse that others (I put that down to the change of age during the 'teens'. Given the choice of chasing girls or spraying the container.... I know where I would be. However!) As Terry paints at three times the rate as anyone else then the work was completed during daylight hours. Our final two pictures show the painting (and posing) but it was completed down to the door locks and hinges. The story doesn't actually end there as the final coat of 'green' had to be applied later and some will remember me painting the goo on the roof of both containers one Saturday afternoon while EVERYONE ELSE WAS SHOOTING! A job that resulted in one pair of trousers being dumped and to this day I cannot work out how I got so much goo on them (apart from the two times I wobbled over and sat on the roof!) So that is it. Much of your money goes on jobs similar to this. The efforts started by Julie and completed by the gang goes unrewarded, so if we ever advertise a 'work day' and ask for help then the old saying that many hands make light work does seem true.

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