I, an Aussie, once had a very English job.
I used to work for Stretford Borough Council, now known as Trafford Council which is located in the greater Manchester area. I was in the Engineering Branch, designing roads, and sewer and stormwater systems.
My office was underneath the clock tower, on the third floor. From there, I could look directly into Old Trafford Cricket Ground.
From there, I could watch cricket matches. Other council officers used to ring the 'mad Aussie' on the third floor, when matches were being played, asking for the current score. Without leaving my work place, I saw two Test matches in full whilst working: England vs India, and a few months later, England VS Pakistan.
The longest cricketing 'six' in history was hit from Old Trafford. A cricket ball was hit out of the ground and accidentally landed onto a passing goods train. The ball was retrieved by sheer luck a few days later, just north of London!
You can Google Map the location of the Council offices, and actually see the office window of the building in the terrestrial function, where I worked. Set your little 'man' down on Warwick Road.
We had a very reliable rain prediction system. You could see the Pennine Hills in the far distance. If you could see the Hills, it was going to rain, if you couldn't see the Hills, it WAS raining!
The home of the Manchester United Football Club is only about a half kilometer away. I used to go to home games there on weekends. That ground is always full to capacity of 63,000 fans, and the atmosphere is always electric!
Those were the days!
Posted 02/27/2011 10:48 am
