Hidden stories: Where to now……..?
Written by John Macpherson
Going nowhere. © John MacPherson
I often wonder…..when I see unusual things….what happened? How did this get to be what it is? Or not get to be what it should be?
And so I puzzled over this apparently long-abandoned and fenced off crossing beside a very very busy road………..
….and from my experience of more than a decade in the building industry I imagined how the builder’s conversation might have gone…..probably something like this………..
“What? Page 3…. What do you mean…?”
“Yes, page 3. Page 3 of the plans!”
“I only have two pages. Was there a third?”
“I guess so.”
“Are you really sure?”
“Well it’s a wild guess, call it a hunch….maybe even professional intuition if you want. But I think there might have been a third page.”
“Nah. I can’t recall seeing one. We definitely only had two. They’re numbered….one….two….so there. Only two. Thats all the architect gave us. So much for your hunches.”
“Hmmph. I guess you’re right. The architect must know what he’s doing. Ok job done I’d say. Where to now – fancy the pub then?”
“Ok”
“Dum dee dum dum dee dum”
brrooooooom brrroooooom parp! parp! squeeeeal parp!
“Run run quick. Watch that bus!”
“Look out for the taxi!”
“This bloody traffic is dangerous!”
“Aye. They could do with a crossing here.”
Author — John Macpherson
John MacPherson was born and lives in the Scottish Highlands. He trained as a welder in the Glasgow shipyards, before completing an apprenticeship as a carpenter, and then qualified as a Social Worker in Disability Services. Along the way he has cooked on canal barges, trained as an Alpine Ski Leader & worked as an Instructor for Skiers with disabilities, been a canoe instructor, and tutor of night classes in carpentry, stained glass design and manufacture, and archery. He has travelled extensively on various continents, undertaking solo trips by bicycle, or motorcycle. He has had narrow escapes from an ambush by terrorists, been hit by lightning, caught in an erupting volcano, trapped in a mobile home by a tornado, kidnapped by a dog's hairdresser, rammed by a basking shark and was once bitten by a wild otter. He has combined all this with professional photography, which he has practised for over 35 years. He teaches photography and acts as a photography guide & tutor in the UK and abroad. His biggest challenge is keeping his 30 year old Land Rover 110 on the road. He loves telling and hearing stories.