FM Conway - Going the Extra Mile

Chapter 5 Finding a New Home

The yard was half a mile out of Crayford, on the edge of Dartford Heath, and it must have felt like the middle of nowhere.

the storage area, they had put some Portacabins, which they used as offices. That is where Neil based himself. It gave him a wonderful view across the site; he could check on what was happening just by looking out of the window. I was desperate to move out there, too, although our official move wasn’t due to take place until the spring. So, one weekend, I spoke to a removal company; and when Sharon Field (who was now my PA) came in on Monday morning, my office was completely bare apart from a cardboard box with the desk telephone sitting on it. So, Sharon had to move to Rochester Way, too – and it was a bit of a shock. The yard was half a mile out of Crayford, on the edge of Dartford Heath, and it must have felt like the middle of nowhere. You had to drive across the Heath, and then turn into a yard, which had no lights, no road, and no parking area. To someone who was used to the lit streets of Crystal Palace, this was a whole new experience. And it was the middle of winter; it was freezing. Sharon, who had never worn a pair of trousers to work in her entire life, suddenly acquired an entirely new wardrobe: boots, jackets, trousers, everything. She and Kerry Hughes were the only two admin staff on site with us: Kerry answered the switchboard, and Sharon acted as PA to me, Neil, and whoever else needed any admin work done. And there was a lot to do before the new yard would be ready. At the bottom of the yard, we dug maintenance pits for the new Workshop. We had to construct a massive drainage system under the whole yard to ensure that any oil or other spillages were properly drained away. We had to build a new concrete surface for the entire space, and we had to build a new road into the yard. Most of this work was done, using our own concrete, by a small number of people who

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