Bombs and Trojan horses

06 March 2003

March 2003 A sunny spring whilst bombs drop on Iraq. There's a surrealistic quality to planning raised beds and adventure playgrounds during war with another country... an eerie contrast of one population donning gardening gloves, and the other gasmasks. May it be over quickly.
Strangely enough we had an enquiry and purchase of sleepers from the Prime ministers office, but I don't think it was for the war effort. We did however supply Warner Bros. with huge turned tree trunks to support a 50 ton Trojan horse for... their forthcoming epic 'Helen of Troy' filmed in Malta, and then Mexico. (I hope we get tickets to the world premiere). Speaking of world firsts, we also provided a telegraph pole to be climbed on the set of a international theatre company 'The David Glass Ensemble', for a new play about apes, humans and communication. Wait a minute.. war on Iraq.. prime ministers's office.. trojan horse.. communicating apes... there's got to be some connection somewhere.
Showing a confusion and a distinct lack of communication is the recent possible banning of creosote treated sleepers. See 'our materials' ...Railtrack is supposedly not releasing any used British sleepers that they take up from the track, after March 30th. They will be stored somewhere and eventually disposed of, through whatever means. June 30th is meant to be the actual ban day in this country, according to the European parliament, for creosote treated sleepers. However there's masses of uncertainty. What about untreated sleepers, like Jarra ? What about salt treated sleepers ? What about imported graded creosote sleepers that are designated for landscape or construction use ? Lots of uncertainties... and most people in the business scratch their heads with incredulity. Will there be midnight raids of sleeper depots, or a shady blackmarket with sleepers being exchanged on isolated waste grounds for cash in brown envelopes. Will there be a sleeper mafia with turf wars on old railway sidings ? Who knows.