The Tunnel
Me and Felix have been having lots of mother-son-bonding school holiday fun. Running in and out of the fountains in Piccadilly Gardens and getting soaking wet, making weird shapes with his body in Cirt Art Gallery's right-angled mirrors, visiting Stockport Hat Museum and then, today, going in search of tunnels.
According to yesterday's Manchester Evening News, some builders discovered a tunnel, a home-made, and well-made, tunnel. With electric light, ventilation, proper scafoolding reinforcement and room to walk in. With a wheelbarrow and shovels, and an entrance covered by wood and earth. Its apparent destination? A cashpoint in a Blockbuster video store.
So me and Felix went looking for it, and found it. I was of course tempted to scale the fence surrounding the building site and have a closer look, but being in charge of a 5-yr-old as I was, common sense prevailed.
The tunnel was about 20 metres long and they had only another 5 metres to go. They must have been at it for weeks. The police couldn't work out what they'd done with all the earth. And having visited the site this is even more inexplicable: as far as I can see there was no eay access to where the tunnel must have started. No alleyways or gates, just railway embankment and high walls and fences. Did they have their own train?? Did they wear fluorescent workmen's clothing and stroll around blatantly (amazing what you can get away with if you're wearing a uniform)? What did they think when the builders turned up on the adjacent vacant plot and started digging? Were they watching? Did they work on the site themselves?
Intriguing stuff. And is this the kind of thing that sticks in a 5-yr-old's mind? You're always aware that you might be forming memories, but probably not the ones you think.
Brilliant.
___
According to yesterday's Manchester Evening News, some builders discovered a tunnel, a home-made, and well-made, tunnel. With electric light, ventilation, proper scafoolding reinforcement and room to walk in. With a wheelbarrow and shovels, and an entrance covered by wood and earth. Its apparent destination? A cashpoint in a Blockbuster video store.
So me and Felix went looking for it, and found it. I was of course tempted to scale the fence surrounding the building site and have a closer look, but being in charge of a 5-yr-old as I was, common sense prevailed.
The tunnel was about 20 metres long and they had only another 5 metres to go. They must have been at it for weeks. The police couldn't work out what they'd done with all the earth. And having visited the site this is even more inexplicable: as far as I can see there was no eay access to where the tunnel must have started. No alleyways or gates, just railway embankment and high walls and fences. Did they have their own train?? Did they wear fluorescent workmen's clothing and stroll around blatantly (amazing what you can get away with if you're wearing a uniform)? What did they think when the builders turned up on the adjacent vacant plot and started digging? Were they watching? Did they work on the site themselves?
Intriguing stuff. And is this the kind of thing that sticks in a 5-yr-old's mind? You're always aware that you might be forming memories, but probably not the ones you think.
Brilliant.
___
Labels: Philosophisering
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home