Elise Ch.19

Despite the jet lag and the whisky from last night I woke up at 7.00am to a bright day with just a few clouds visible from my bed. I got up and went to the window and looked out onto a picture perfect view of the English countryside. After a few moments of enjoying the view I showered and dressed before heading down to the restaurant for breakfast.

The smell of freshly prepared food made me feel hungry and I checked the buffet table before helping myself to coffee. I sat at a small table and sampled the coffee, it was excellent and full flavoured. A waiter approached and asked if I would like a full English breakfast to which I declined and I told him I would get something from the buffet spread.

I took a plate and heaped some bacon, scrambled eggs and some toast onto it and returned to my table. The bacon and the eggs were perfect and the toast was nice and crisp with a taste unlike that of US toast. I soon finished it and helped myself to more coffee as more guests filtered into the restaurant and it became busy.

I finished my coffee and took a walk outside to enjoy the morning air which was clean and refreshing. I looked back at the front of the hotel and took in a lot more detail than I had done on my arrival. One corner of the façade was covered with some type of ivy like creeper with purple flowers blooming all through it whilst the other showed stone work that was carved around the doorway and the windows. The roof had a parapet around it and I could see grey tiles covering it with rectangular stonework sporting a row of chimneys sprouting up at either end and the middle. This must have been some house in its day and god knows how many would have worked here to ensure its running smoothly.

At the back of the hotel was what I guessed would have been stables and carriage housing but were now open garages for an assortment of cars. I approached them and took a look at what was there.

The silver grey Rolls Royce was nestled in the middle section with a black Jaguar XJS to its left and a red E type Jaguar on the right. Next to the XJS was a lime green Volkswagen Beetle that had been modified and then an empty space, I took a look at the back of the VW and was amazed at the open engine bay that gleamed with chrome everywhere. On the other side of the E Type was a very ordinary looking BMW. What caught my eye were the three motorbikes in the last bay. A factory stock Triumph Bonneville, a black Norton Commando and a modern flat twin BMW. I would have missed it if I had not looked further back and saw a cream and maroon Lambretta scooter sitting there. I was impressed with the collection and would have a talk with Rory at some point about it.

I went back to my room and got my stuff ready for heading to the factory and sat downstairs in the reception area. At exactly 9.00am the doorman came across to me and informed me that my car was waiting outside for me. I picked up my stuff and headed out to find the Black Jaguar purring at the bottom of the steps and yesterday’s chauffeur holding the rear door open for me.

“Good morning, Sir. His lordship said he will meet you at the factory later today. It will only take about 20 minutes to get there.”

I sat in the back and he closed the door then got in the driver’s seat and we left the hotel exiting from the driveway onto a quiet A road. The time passed quickly and we drove through a security barrier and parked at a new factory construction with a two story office block at one end. I got out of the car after the chauffeur opened the door for me. He directed me to the door of the office and said that he would be back at 5.30pm to return me to the hotel.

I entered the building and approached the reception desk where a very polite girl in her twenties with a lanyard badge declaring her to be Emily Dewar handed me a security badge and showed me to a vacant office with an electronic lock on the ground floor.

“This is your office, sir as long as you are here with us. Your badge is keyed to the lock and the whole area is covered by cctv so you can leave anything in it knowing that it will be secure. There is a canteen at the other end of the building that serves lunch if you get hungry. Jack Roberts, the factory manager will be with you shortly and take you into the main building.”

“Thank you very much, Emily.”

I opened the door with the badge and put my gear on one of the desks. First out was my laptop and I powered it up. While I was waiting I opened the project file and got out the installation plans. A knock at the door signalled the arrival of Jack Roberts and I opened it and shook hands with him. He was wearing a black coverall with a two way radio in the breast pocket and held a white hard hat in his other hand. He looked to be about 50 or so and spoke with an accent that I could just understand.

He must have seen my quizzical look and said, “It’s a Yorkshire accent, lad. You’ll get used to it!”

I laughed and told him I had heard much worse back home.

“OK, Ger. Grab a lid and we will go and see what your boys are up to in the factory.”

I took a hard hat from a peg on the wall and asked him to wait a moment as I put on my safety shoes. This got a nod of approval from him and we exited ‘my’ office and entered the factory from a corridor in the office block.

The factory was well lit and was a hive of activity with a couple of forklifts moving pallets of our machine from against the wall to where my crew were extending the line section by section. Movable gantries were behind the line as contractors were installing cable trays, pipework and extraction ducts overhead. Drums of cable were on supports and their contents were being paid out and lifted up to the trays. I looked at the line and saw that about a quarter of it was already joined up. My guys had been busy indeed.

We went over to the front of the line where technical drawings were pinned to vertical boards and a couple of my guys were pointing to a section. They turned around and greeted me.

“So you made it then? It must be great being the big boss. We are ahead of schedule a bit but just as well as there is an issue with that support column just behind the line. It is closer to the centre line than was expected and we need to dogleg some of the facilities.”

I looked to where he was pointing and saw the column. I went over to it and saw that it was about a foot too close to the line and the line could not have been moved away as all of the bunding areas had been laid in.