Free The West Winford Incident by John Parker

months yet.” Sue thought that it would be unlikely, but agreed to think about it. Their order arrived, they settled back and chatted amicably about Sue’s children whilst Pam gave more details of her work at Highwood; a daunting programme of DIY by the sound of it. Delicious but filling was Sue’s verdict on the tea as they settled the bill.
    Arriving home Sue was surprised to find Dave already there. Even more surprising was to find him making token preparations towards tea. He had decided to get off early, which was unusual as his work load had not diminished as he had predicted. Although he had relinquished his temporary job of overseeing the section’s work, this had now been replaced by his new responsibility on the Winford inquiry. He felt under pressure to learn as much as possible about power plant generally and West Winford in particular. So much stuff! His meeting was coming up but he thought that he needed a break in order to absorb some of the information. Just piling it in was causing confusion. Though he welcomed Sue’s improved social life, he was slightly put out that she wasn’t home when he had made his decision to be early. He did his best to overcome this irritation and asked about her day. Sue gave a brief resume, adding that she certainly would not want any tea herself as she was very full.

    *

    An early start. The train was crowded. Dave was surprised to find that a first class ticket did not guarantee a seat. Luckily he was well placed to get a seat at Swindon where a few passengers got off. He dug out the paperwork relating to the meeting, which was being held at Walton House, the London Headquarters of the Strategic Supplies Authority. He read that the group was to be chaired by Prof Henry Fletcher, Technical Director at British Steel Products. Dave had not met him but was aware of his standing as a metallurgist specialising in the field of corrosion. The representative for the turbine manufacturer was Joe Griffiths, and two (!) members, Dave noted, from his own organisation, representing the Central Research Laboratories. He had met neither Drs McCann nor Collingwood, although he knew Dorinda McCann was an expert in stress corrosion cracking. Having both Prof Fletcher and Dr McCann attending, the committee had impeccable credentials for their task.
    Paddington already. Dave was unsure of himself and somewhat in awe at the prospect of meeting his fellow committee members, so he certainly did not want to be late. He hurried to Lancaster Gate underground station. This was on the Central Line, as was St. Paul’s, his Walton House stop.
    He was greeted at reception by a Miss Pauline Sage and learned that Joe Griffiths had already arrived. The young lady escorted him up to the fifteenth floor, by express lift, and into one of the conference rooms. After making the introductions she returned to the reception area. Dave estimated that Joe was probably in his early forties. He was short and stocky. They shook hands and shared their respective experiences on the rail network, whilst taking in the marvellous view over St. Paul’s, Tower Bridge and far beyond. Joe had travelled down from Nuneaton. The next to arrive was the Chairman. He greeted both of them warmly with, what Dave thought was, a slight Scottish accent. He was a tall man with grey hair and appeared to be in his mid-fifties. Dave, although not himself an expert on environmental cracking, was familiar with some of Professor Fletcher’s work on alloy steels going way back to when Dave was still at college. He had an international reputation. It soon became clear that Henry, as he asked to be called, was modest, friendly, and did not stand on ceremony. Shortly afterwards the final two members arrived. Dorinda McCann and Henry, who had met at various conferences, chatted easily together. Dr McCann was a similar age to Henry whilst her colleague, James Collingwood, was clearly the youngest of the group, being in his