I had to go to a meeting at our head office in London.
First time that I have been since before lockdown.
What a culture shock.
Bar, cafes all over the place, gym, snooker tables, pool tables, video games, nearly everyone under 30! Very few desks for work. Very little sign of people working - the aforementioned facilities were all being very well utilised.
What the hell is going on!
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I was surprised to be told there was a rifle range in the basement of a London office. Many of the staff had parking places for their vans that were, seemingly, only used for commuting. That was in the '70s.
Different rules (Spanish practices) for London staff then.
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>> I was surprised to be told there was a rifle range in the basement of
>> a London office. Many of the staff had parking places for their vans that were,
>> seemingly, only used for commuting. That was in the '70s.
Perhaps fairly common in public buildings of a particular era. There was one in the basement of Stewart House - originally built for the Public Trustee - in Kingsway though long disused when I was there in the eighties/nineties.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sun 3 Mar 24 at 09:30
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The world of work has changed. In the early 1970s when I started earning a crust the norm in industry (as a middle/senior manager) was:
- expense account alcohol fuelled lunches
- casual racism and sexism (not malicious - that was how it was)
- work could only be conducted in an office - no smart phones, internet
- clear worker/union differentiation from management
Then a period where many earlier norms were (rightly) judged inappropriate, and the focus shifted towards target based - fail and you're out. Connectivity means you are never out of the "office".
The pandemic crystallised the work from home potential. With fairly full employment amongst the educated and capable, employers know they need to make work more engaging.
Perhaps businesses are increasingly adopting the culture which first appeared 10-15 years ago mainly in digital businesses where comfy chairs, chill out zones, table tennis tables became familiar.
One absolute certainty - as we age the rest of the world seems younger.
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>> The world of work has changed. In the early 1970s when I started earning a
>> crust the norm in industry (as a middle/senior manager) was:
>>
>> - expense account alcohol fuelled lunches
>> - casual racism and sexism (not malicious - that was how it was)
>> - work could only be conducted in an office - no smart phones, internet
>> - clear worker/union differentiation from management
The Civil Service did not have expense accounts but Friday afternoon in the pub until last orders at 15:00 was a thing. As were seniors with whisky in their desk drawers.
I wish the racism/sexism had been casual; there were places it was ingrained. Well into the eighties there were people who thought being a travelling clerk was 'not women's work'.
Any number of odd ideas about accents too. A Scots colleague with an almost Morningside accent and myself, well spoken but with flat vowels, were told we might advance our careers with elocution lessons.
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>>One absolute certainty - as we age the rest of the world seems younger.
I was gobsmacked to hear Kylie Minogue was 37 years in the business, remember my kids being obsessed with her in Neighbours, but I suppose they are nearly in their fifties.
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I was celebrating my 31st birthday with a couple of mates and our girlfriends in a restaurant in Chelsea when who should occupy the next table other than Kylie herself. So was George Michael, Martin Kemp and his wife, Shirlie (Wham! backing singer) and a few others I forget. Perhaps ten of them.
We got all their autographs of course, I was never into that kind of thing, just absolutely plastered. We must have been so annoying.
I remember her being tiny, but George wasn't much taller either. They were celebrating his boyfriend's birthday and we watched as a birthday cake kind of opened up and a set of car keys popped out - Mercedes CLK, I seem to remember.
The 90s were fantastic.
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There was a rifle range under one of the mainline railway stations. Waterloo I think. And a famous one somewhere in Baker street.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 3 Mar 24 at 15:46
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>> There was a rifle range under one of the mainline railway stations. Waterloo I think.
>> And a famous one somewhere in Baker street.
There's one in the Community Centre near Harborne where Mrs B's Brum rellies are. Still used by a local club I think.
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My school has a rifle range for the Cadet Corps. In it was stored several thousand rounds of .303 ammunition. In the armoury we had around 100 Lee Enfield rifles, half a dozen converted to .22 calibre. four Bren guns and a couple of Sten guns as well as some dummy hand grenades and a Verey pistol
Different times I suppose.
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And great times. .303 was designated the No 4 and the .22 the No 8.
Happy memories of Annual Camps all over the country. Warcop in Cumbria has special memories.
However Blancoing webbing was a chore which has long gone fortunately.
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Yes went to camps in Otterburn , Thetford, Oakhampton, Pirbright . Was a reasonable shot and was in a rifle club for a number of years.
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I can remember CCF camps in Brecon Beacons, Sennon Cove (Cornwall), and a long and very uncomfortable journey in the back of the CCF truck to somewhere far north in England. And many a happy day shooting at Rainham Marshes, particularly the Bren guns.
I can recall, as a smoker, having a box of those England's Glory non safety matches in my jeans pocket, the ones with a motto on them. Early on in the week I jumped up onto the top bunk and and whole box went off in my pocket. Mucho pain accompanied by awful smell of burnt cotton and flesh and a very nasty would which I didn't get seen to as I'd have been in loads of trouble for the matches. It went pretty septic for some weeks!
I also recall going off for a day exercise in the Land Rovers and being ambushed en route by the regulars with Thunderflashes lobbed into the back of the vehicle etc. I'm sure they thought it funny
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Head Offices - bathtub tom
