As a loco spotter obsessed by the named express locomotives at Carlisle Citadel , a youngster turned his back on mere freight workings and missed a goldmine of engine classes on the city's goods avoiding lines. Here, he confesses to the missed opportunities that resulted from such 'tunnel vision'.

Carlisle has always been a centre of excellence for watching trains - formerly the meeting-point of no fewer than eight distinct routes, from seven pre-grouping railways. Six of these could claim to be major players. This situation continued right through to Nationalisation and beyond, and only slowly did the traditions and practices established by 1880 fade away. It was in such a situation that I was a train spotter in the late 1940s and early 1950's in Carlisle, blithely unaware not only of history but also the geography of Carlisle's railways.

One of the characteristics of Carlisle Citadel station for more than 100 years was the absence of goods traffic, apart from the Royal Mail and parcels, during 'daytime hours'. As a youngster with a developing interest in trains, my staple diet was virtually all passenger traffic, the majority of the express trains being hauled by 'namers'. So, like many others, I turned my back - literally and metaphorically - on humble freight workings and thereby missed a goldmine of engine classes, traffic and routes round Carlisle.

As a spotter, on a good day, when I could afford to spend a penny on a platform ticket I could watch everything come and go from the station's three through platforms and five bays. Departures and through arrivals were displayed on the roller blind - style indicator, and Tannoy announcements, just about intelligible to the practised ear This meant you could keep track of trains and watch the uncoupling of locomotives for exchanges or for release from the bays. In addition, at the foot of the ramp on the old Platform 2, was a chalk-written board giving information about trains, regarding eunning early, late or to time.

However, especially during the early years, until a paper round made me flush with cash, there were the days when had to make do with free viewing points elsewhere. In my case, it was on the low roof of concrete store buildingnear Caldew Bridges - strictly speaking near Caldew Junction South. My other vantage point was just to the South of Carlisle No. 3 signalbox near Port Carlisle Branch Junction. Port Carlisle's claim to fame was its Dandy Cart, - a horse-drawn tramcar based on a roadcoach - now in the National Railway Museum. At both of these viewing points, you were cut off from more than half the passenger traffic but you were beside the northern end of the Goods Avoiding Lines (although I didn't know it). At Caldew .Junction South, you could also watch the shunting linked with two goods yards, albeit often by an ex-LMS diesel shunter, the precursor of the 'modern' Class 08.

And I watched the trains go by - focusing on the passenger services, hoping for another 'namer', preferably something new. I always got 'namers' - but obviously the longer you spot in a particular area, the fewer new 'namers' you get. And my back was largely turned from the freight scene as '8Fs', 'Black Fives', Horwich 'Moguls', '4Fs' and even 'WDs' trundled past - including Austerity and, I think, Vulcan, the 2-10-0 Riddles-designed precursors of the '9F'. With such tunnel vision, I missed a wealth of action and failed to appreciate the complexity of Carlisle's railway system and its railway heritage.

Each of the seven pre-Grouping railways at Carlisle had its own stock, locomotive shed and goods facilities, although there was some sharing. At the start of the BR era, there were still four separate sheds in operation, another still used for stabling. Moreover, there were still seven goods stations - four of which were within 1/2 mile of the Citadel forecourt. So much for rationalisation! From Nationalisation, it took another 15 years to see the number of sheds reduced to two, basically because of the imminent demise of steam. On the goods station front, the closures came slowly after the opening of the huge but ill-fated Kingmoor hump shunting goods yards.

This meant that from a goods train operating point of view, there was little change for more than 80 years since the Midland had reached Carlisle in 1875 with goods The changes came about with the opening of Kingmoor goods wagon-handling facilities, however that coincided with the major decline in freight traffic especially general carrier and single wagon loads.

Just beyond the south end of the Citadel station, the tracks cross a bridge which spans Crown Street. Looking south, to the left was Crown Street Goods Depot (formerly LNWR). To the right, on the west side of the station, was another goods depot. Crown Street (Bog Street) Goods. This had belonged to the former Maryport & Carlisle Railway, a small, prosperous and still independent company until 1923; this building was also shared with some former North Eastern Railway traffic.

To the North of the station, in view were another two goods depots and a sea of sidings. Nearest the station, hut at a considerahly lower level, was the Viaduct Goods Depot formerly belonging to the Caledonian Railway. Beyond that, the River Caldew - flowing in a man-made gorge of sandstone blocks, just beyond this were the up and down goods avoiding line and then Dentonholme Goods depot. Originally this was a joint operation between GSWR, NBR and MR, but effectively it became a GSWR depot, with a cattle dock as part of the complex, about - 100 yards to the north. As a lad, I lived near the cattle dock and I remember cattle being driven through the streets to it - it was more than 1 1/2 miles to open fields, so heaven knows how far the drovers had brought their herds!

Further away from the Citadel, and out of sight, were the two goods depols of the former North Eastern Railway and the Midland Railway. These were near one another, just off London Road, about a mile from the station. Near here was the site of Carlisle's first railway station, the passenger terminus of the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway. It was the London Road NER locomotive shed which was used as a stabling point - right beside an inner suburb of terrace housing.

To the west of the city's inner housing were the Canal Goods Yard and shed. These were formerly NBR and the shed was well away from the built-up area, as was Kingmoor shed which was further to the north and east, beside the WCML.

From the 1880s, the goods avoiding line provided the means for through freight trains to bypass the Citadel station, and also to connect with any of the routes which converged on Carlisle. So a freight train from the south, using the 'Lanky' (the former Lancaster & Carlisle Railway line), could easily reach the lines of any other six companies. This was made easier by the fact that, to the north, the GSWR had running powers over the former Caledonian track from Gretna junction. The Waverley route joined them at Port Carlisle junction, about a mile from the station. Similarly, to the east, the Midland had running powers over the former NER tracks from Pettrill BridgeJunction. The other routes were to the Maryport and Carlisle line, heading South-west, and an alternative route to the Waverley route and Canal Goods, branching from the Goods avoiding lines at Rome Street junction. In most cases, the Goods depots were separated from the reception and departure tracks of the marshalling yards. This was the case at Crown Street, where the marshalling was done beyond St Nicholas Bridges, the first overbridge South of the Citadel station on the WCML. Bog St Depot had its marshalling carried out at the Currock sidings. The Viaduct Yard was serviced from the Kingmoor sidings, near the steam shed. The MR had sidings further to the East of the city, using the Petttrill Bridge sidings and the Durranhill sidings which reached the Durranhill shed - a square 'roundhouse'.

So all this was missed by the passenger-obsessed lad who looked for 'namers', ignoring the huge variety of freight locomotives. Not only was I missing through freight, however, but also a tremendous volume of trip working.

With freight, the traffic can be seen as trainload, wagonload and general carrier individual items. Clearly general carrier items destined for the area in and around Carlisle would be unloaded in the various depots for local delivery. In the late 1940s, horse-drawn flat carts were still being used at the Dentonholme depot near where I lived. In time, these were supplanted by the Scammell Mechanical Horse - in its early development a decidedly ugly beast, in my opinion. So local deliveries would be going out from the depots.

However, much of the general carrier goods would be for beyond Carlisle and would have arrived from any of the seven company routes, each to its own goods depot. There would then be transhipment from 'via Carlisle' vans to others heading to the right destination or on to the appropriate route. My father worked as a Goods Checker at Crown Street (he also worked at Dentonholme). His duties involved checking goods off the wagons coming in and on to wagons going out. This meant there could be six outgoing routes for goods which had arrived via the 'Lanky'. The goods would be transhipped on to wagons and then the wagons would be marshalled for trip working to the appropriate depot / marshalling area of (formerly) foreign routes. Each depot would be going through the same procedure of allocating incoming goods to wagons for shipment onwards. The whole situation was clearly labour-intensive and must have been relatively slow.

At the same time as this trip working was going on, freight trains would be arriving, containing a mixture of complete wagonloads, some to Carlisle and some for destinations beyond the Border City. These trains would need to be remarshalled and, again, would generate trip movements of wagons heading for destinations not served by the individual depot and its associated marshalling yard. No wonder Dentonholme goods and Viaduct goods resounded to endless shunting - as clearly heard from my bedroom. I wonder if it. was such 'day and night earbashing' that helped create in me the love of trains?

If all this 'internal' traffic were not enough, Carlisle, like most towns in the age of steam, had many private sidings with rail connections to the goods avoiding lines. The Canal branch which passed to the west of the city went through the main industrial area. From Forks junction to the Canal basin, a distance of about 1 1/2miles, the railway served at least eight businesses, and some others had once had rail connections.

As if this were not enough, it must be remembered that 'through' freight trains required both remanning and a change of engines in many cases. 'Knowing the road' was built up at particular sheds, so that by and large men from a pre-Grouping shed worked the pre-Grouping routes. The engine exchanges necessarily generated light locomotive movements as the fresh engine moved to meet its train and the engine coming off went to its appropriate shed for servicing. In addition, the yard shunters had to return to their parent sheds for regular fettling - the ex-LMS diesel shunters being the notable exception. This 'to-ing and fro-ing' was done on the goods avoiding lines, as the main passenger lines had enough traffic which, of course, also included a multitude of light engine movements as well as empty coaching stock traffic.

So much of this was missed in my youth. It was partly through concentrating on the splendid express engines and partly through ignorance. In those days, well-illustrated magazines were few and far between - and relatively expensive for someone on a tanner or bob a week pocket money. Additionally, you just didn't know such magazines existed. The local newsagents did display a selection of popular newspapers, comics and no doubt a few women's magazines as well as very limited number of general-interest magazines, but there were no shelves bulging with magazines covering a multitude of topics as is the case today. No Steam World, no Stcam Railway. Similarly, railway books were sparse and spartan by modern standards - I don't think I found many under the Dewey system in the City Library! And so I could go on - opportunities missed galore - but that is true of all of us. 'If only!' is our cry. But we can't live life on 'if only' - instead, memories shared help to fill in, if not compensate, for what might have been!

Endnote

Going, going...

The decline of the goods avoiding lines began in earnest in 1963. The opening of the Kingmoor hump shunting yard led to the progressive closure of many of the depots which went back to the pre-Grouping era. London Road, formerly NER remains as the local goods depot, with other sites used for various rail and non-rail purposes.

...almost gone

The north-south part of the avoiding lines to the west of the Citadel station came to a sudden, unplanned end on May 1 1983. A container train from Warrington divided when coming down Shap and the rear part free-wheeled towards Carlisle.

The signalman at Carlisle power box realised the train had split and routed the front portion away from the goods avoiding lines, but the rear part was channelled through the lines. At the bridge over the River Caldew, close to Dentonholme Goods Depot, the remains of the train came to grief. The containers, which included dangerous chemical tanks, derailed on the bridge and caused extensive damage to the track and bridge structure, with some ending up in the river.

It was decided not to repair or replace structure for continued railway usage. Thus came to an end about a century of channelling freight away from the station. Today, north-south freight passes through the station, but traffic from the west, cast and south can still use the tracks to the south of the Citadel to reach destinations other than to the north of the city. The goods avoiding lines by the River Caldew have been lifted and the land leased to Sustrans, a charity dedicated to encouraging sustainable transport - walking and cycling. With the unexpected increase of traffic there is really a need to reopen part of the Goods Avoiding Lines to facilitate freight movements and to use as holding areas while freight waits for appropiate paths. However the leasing agreement with Sustrans makes this difficult. Could this be yet another managerial decision which hampers the development of freight on the railway system by providing a pinch point at Carlisle, just like it was in the 1870's? Will we ever learn?

STEAM WORLD OCTOBER 1999 updated Oct 2005

RAIL TALES

Many a family which includes railway workers will have tales to tell about incidents and adventures in and around the rail network.  Below I am including a few from my own family and of a friend.

MAULED BY THE TIGER

My dad worked on the railway as a casual worker before WW2.  On being demobbed he was taken on full time as a goods porter at Crown Street Goods yard. Although called 'Tot' - short for Thomas, for some reason he picked up the nickname 'Tiger'.  He gave the impression of being a dour man, but he had a twinkle in his eye.  He was a heavy smoker - 20 + a day - but in the goods shed there was a strict 'No Smoking' rule with warning signs clearly displayed.

In about 1960, a survey was being made by high level executives of British Railways, prior to the Beeching Report. Crown Street was visited and the executives were being shown round the goods shed by management.  In the middle of the discussions my dad approached the group and said pointedly in broad 'Carlisle', 'If that applies to us, then it applies to you!' There, above them, was a No Smoking sign.  Cigarettes were quickly stubbed out, and the executives moved on - sheepishly.  My dad went back to his work, no doubt with a slight smile on his face.  The Tiger had savaged the bosses!

ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN!

By the time my dad had reached his mid fifties he had developed angina - no doubt linked to his heavy smoking for most of his adult life. The work of goods portering proved to be too heavy for him so he was assigned to light duties - by this time he had been transferred to Denton Holme Goods depot - Crown Street having been closed following the opening of the massive Kingmoor Marshalling yards. His duties included steam cleaning the Scammel Scarabs used for local transport from the yard as well as general cleaning and sweeping up. For this latter set of tasks he was given a wheel barrow for the rubbish and sweepings. Alas, for him, the wheel barrow was a traditional large wooden wheel barrow which, metaphorically, weighed a ton. It was beyond my father's capabilities so he asked for a lighter barrow so that he could cope. The application went through the appropriate channels and the reply came back 'Request refused'. Not long after that an accident happended in the yard. A Scammel Scarab reversed into the large wooden barrow and wrecked it. A lighter metal barrow was provided as a replacement so that my dad was able to soldier on for a little longer.

THE FUNERAL - BY PRIOR ARRANGEMENT?

When he was about fifty eight my dad had to retire on health grounds. His entitlement to free rail passes and privilege tickets continued. He made the best of his retirement considering his increasingly serious angina. He died at the age of sixty. Being a Labour supporter, the funeral and the subsequent meal where organised by the Co - op. As we made our way in the funeral limousine it was noticeable how many men doffed their hats as the hearse passed - it was 1972. We passed the station and headed towards the Crematorium which was situated at the very edge of the city. As approached Charlotte Street in which Denton Holme Goods yard was situated, a Scammel Scarab with its BR trailer pulled out right in front of the hearse. It led the way all the way to the Crematoriam. Having passed the Cemetery gates it continued its way - probably to the Pirelli carpet slippper factory which was just beyond the grounds of the Crem. Was this a coincidence or was it stage managed as fond farewell to Tiger? One thing which was a comfort at that time was that although the family entered an empty Chapel, when the service was over and we rose to leave, the Chapel was almost full, with many present being in working clothes. Obviously many from Denton Holme Goods had knocked off early to pay their final respects to a colleague of many years.

A BORING AFTERNOON AT CARLISLE (CANAL) SAVED BY AN INCIDENT

It all started when the gang, of which I was a very junior member, was fed up with taking car numbers - a boring activity in days of petrol rationing - and the leaders opted to go train spotting on Carlisle Citadel railway station. I was about ten and I was hooked for years to come. In those days, just after World War 2, a ten year old could wander off up town to go train spotting without his parents going frantic about molestation, abduction or even worse. We were innocent children in an unobsessed society, the war was over and best was yet to come. And so it was for me as I wrote down engine numbers and names on paper or grubby notebooks - those were the days before Ian Allan's ABC's were generally available.
So it was up to the station - about half a mile, or a year later when I had graduated to a bike, it might be to some free viewing point as I pursued the namers, mainly LMS - it was not yet 1948.

One day a friend suggested that we went somewhere different - we set out for what would now might be called a 'one stop shed bash' and the shed he chose was Carlisle Canal - he knew how to get there, which was more than I did! So off we cycled to near the edge of the city, along the appropriately named Engine Lonning (in Cumbria a lonning is a lane), over a railway bridge and there was the shed., behind a 'wall', if I remember rightly, a wall of sleepers. We climbed onto the wall, and watched what was going on. And it looked as if we were in for a very boring afternoon - the main reason being that there wasn't much going on at all, not much to see. For a one stop shed bash the emphasis was on the stop with next to no action all afternoon, until ...!

As we sat there on the fence with nothing of particular interest going on. An 0 - 6 - 0 J39(?) trundled along the track just in front of us. Suddenly it lurched and ground to a halt. The crew got down from the cab to see what was to do. It had become derailed with four of the six drivers off the track. Call in the heavy lifting gear? No so. They went off for help and another 0 - 6 - 0 came up behind the stricken loco and coupled up.. Timbers were brought and put under the driving wheels which had jumped the rail - the timbers were probably old sleepers. Both locos were set into reverse gear and started up. After two or three attempts the locos moved, the with wood splinters flying the derailed loco regained the track and all was well.. Nowadays the loco would have been towed away for ultrasonic testing, gauge checking and who knows what else. In those far off days I expect the wheels were visually checked for damage and if none were seen then the loco would be returned immediately to service. In those days, as evidenced by telephoto shots in shed yards, the track was often in a poor condition, uneven and even slightly spread. On the day of my visit things conspired together to cause a minor incident, it was this that made the visit worthwhile.

UNCLE JOE AND THE ACCIDENT INQUIRY.

My Uncle Joe came from Workington. Before World War 2 he had worked down the mines. During the war he had been at Dunkirk, in North Africa and in Burma. Some of the time working a a dispatch rider on the army motor bikes. During the war, when on leave he married my dad's sister and the wedding photo showed him wearing the distinctive military hat associated with service in Burma. After the war he started work as a goods guard in Carlisle. He mainly worked on freight trains heading north from Carlisle - the old Caley route or the Sou' western.

On goods trains there was a real art in coping with long strings of unfitted loose coupled wagons. On long descents to drill was for the train to stop on the track or in a siding at the summit of the incline and for the guard to pin down the brakes on a certain number of wagons, first going down one side, ducking under a wagon then going back to the van, pinning down the brakes on the other side of the wagons. When the bottom of the descent was reached, the train would pull into a siding and the brakes would be pinned in the off position.

On one occasion the train in which he was acting as guard reached the summit, slowed down almost to a stop and Joe applied the brake vans brakes. However the train did not quite stop but started moving forward before Joe had time to do his job of pinning down the brakes. He realised that for some reason the train was running away so he jumped down and started running alongside the train, trying to pin down the brakes or even simply pulling out the pins so that the brakes would be loose and so be on a little bit - giving the characteristic bang and clatter of a loose unpinned brake system. To say that Joe was built for comfort rather than speed is to be polite. The train ran away and there was a derailment. Incidents like that mean an accident inquiry.

On the day of the inquiry Joe was called to give his account what happened. He described what had happened at the summit and how he had tried to apply the braked to some of the loose coupled wagons. Then the inspector asked the question:

'Did you try to pin down the brakes on both sides of the train?'

Uncle Joe did not tell me what went through his head when that question was asked (remember I was but a lad). Joe said to me 'I just looked at him'

Think about it!

Some years later Joe started to suffer from black outs. This was eventually traced back to a head injury in an accident while he was a dispatch rider so he got a war injuries pension. The injury meant that he could no longer work as a guard so he had to be transferred. He became a ticket collector at the Citadel. He was auditioned to be a station announcer and was offered the job - he refused it for he didn't fancy being stuck in an office all the time. He carried on collecting tickets through to retirement.

A TEENAGE JOURNEY

With my dad working on the railway I could share some of the free passes and privilege tickets which were just about the only perk that went with the job. In 1952 we moved away from the two bedroom back to back house overlooking the Denton Holme and Viaduct goods yards with the WCML beyond that. We moved into a palatial three bedrrom councils house built in the Easiform manner. I think that this was achieveed by concrete being poured into shuttering to form the loadbearing walls.

I was no longer ashamed of my home. I had had a French pen friend for three years and we arranged an informal exchange visit. My dad ordered the tickets but only that to Euston arrived in time. I was heading for a small village in Northwest France and the nearest major railway station was at St Quentin. So, at the age of fifteen, I duly set off on a night train on 14 July 1952 on my longest ever rail journey. When I reached Euston in the morning I had to make my way by Tube to Waterloo or Victoria (I can't remember which). This was not for the next part of the journet, but to collect the tickets, first to Dover / Calais then to Paris and on to St Quentin. If I remember rightly the London to Calais tickets were Privilege Tickets as we were outside the London Midland Region (ex LMS). However for the French part of the journey I was given a voucher to exchange on the train.

Travelling from Victoria (?) I reached Dover and Calais without problems, then came the first difficulty. In spite of my four years of grammar schoool French I could not make head nor tail of the Tannoy announcements at Calais (no better than many Tannoy announcements in England!), so I followed the crowd. Unfortunately that part of the crowd was not heading for Paris. Fortunately I heard a porter (Porteur?) calling 'Paree'. I said 'Oui'. He grabbed my suitcase and led me in the right direction and bundled me on the train, only just in time!. I hope I tipped him - the going (asking) rate was 120 francs at 960fr to the pound! The train was comfortable and with the larger loading guage the carriage compartment seated eight people four abreast with a central headrest to make it two couples on each side. The ticket collector came and checked all the tickets in the compartment, except for mine! As he closed the sliding door I jumped to my feet and followed him, then in halting French, showed him my voucher and he dealt with the situation appropriately.

I changed trains at Gare du Nord and was duly met at St Quentin. There then followed a month in the French country with wall to wall sunshine. My pen friend was the son of an ex Italian farm worker and, without the advantage of free or subsidised travel, he was unable to afford to return to England with me - so it was no fair exchange! In due course I set out to return by train and ferry to Carlisle. This was a trouble free journey. However, on the train from Euston to Carlisle - probably on the day time stopper that terminated at Carlisle, I decided to look at the train ticket - as one does. The expiry date was 14 July 52 and here was I travelling in the middle of August! Panic stations - I only had a limited amount of cash with me. The tickets were inspected en route but nothing was said to my great relief. However, when I reached Carlisle the ticket collector at the Citadel stopped me and pointed out that the ticket was out of date. He then asked who my dad was, I told him and explained that he worked at Crown Street - he let me through with a nod.

What had happened was that, as mentioned above, my dad had applied for the tickets in good time but they had been issued to him and date stamped in June 52 but at that time the ticket was only valid for a month!. By chance the month expired on the day that I had set out on my journey! Thanks to a lack of vigilance by some, and a conspiracy of colleagues, I travelled three hundred miles free, without a valid train ticket!

I remember little about the locos I saw on the journey, except, perhaps a fleeting memory of Bulleid Pacifics, which I didn't like as much as the beloved Staniers of my home patch. I did not like the aesthetics of the French locos with their abundance of external pipe work and unlipped chimneys - which shows how much one is brainwashed by being immersed in limited traditions!

ROB'S TALE

Rob lived in Wolverton and his father was a foreman in Wolverton Carriage Works. As a student Rob was also taken on at the works for the summer vac. Because Rob was still in full-time education his father was entitled to get free passes for Rob's benefit and he made use of this for Rob was at the University of Bangor in North Wales. While still a student Rob invested in a Lambretta scooter, but when the time came to return to University he didn't fancy riding that distance - especially as British weather is so unpredictable and variable. So Rob decided to take the scooter by train. Now the booking offices at Wolverton station are at street level and all the platforms are down flight of steps. Rob managed to get the Lambretta down to the right platform with considerable effort and difficulty. Then came the challenge! One of the porters at Wolverton had a severe speech impediment and he rushed up to Rob with a message - after listening to much stuttering / stammering Rob realised that there had been a change platform and the local train was now due elsewhere. Rob looked at the flight of steps and groaned. Realising the difficulty the porter volunteered to help Rob take the scooter across to the right platform by using the porters' trolley crossing.. Rob gladly agreed. With some difficulty the porter pulled and Rob pushed the scooter. Now Wolverton is on a curve, when they were half way across the planked area Rob looked round and saw an express train be - be - bear - bearing down on him, the scooter and the porter (probably in that order). The porter also realised the danger. Rob shoved, the porter heaved, Rob went one way and the porter went the other way. The result - the scooter shot across the line, just in time to be missed by the whistling train - with Rob on one side of the track and the porter and the scooter safely on the other. It really could have been a nasty accident - two men, a scooter and whatever else, for one cannot predict the effect an obstruction can have - even something as small as a scooter. The porter should have known better, twice over - he should have known the risk, but also he should have known that an express train was about due! Rob returned safely to University - with a tale to tell ' There but for ...'

ANOTHER TALE FROM WOLVERTON

There were men 'on the gate' at the Wolverton carriage works. Theft of Company Property was, of course, a sackable offence. Nevertheless stock 'shrinkage' still happened and Rob marvelled at how many sheds on the allotments in Wolverton were painted in company colours! On one occasion a craftsman 'needed' a piece of 3 x 2 timber for home use. It was too long and bulky to smuggle down one's trouser leg so another means had to be devised. It so happened that he had an apprentice who worked with him. As the apprentice was clocking off, his supervisor was crossing the area near the gate carrying a piece of wood. The apprentice gave a dramatic V - sign to his supervisor - but not to indicate Victory. Enraged and waving the timber in the air, the supervisor ran after him swearing to teach the lad a lesson. He caught up with the lad and gave him ... (what for?). The supervisor then went back inside the works muttering to the men on the gate about these cheeky young *******. He had returned empty handed - mission accomplished!