Page 102 - It's a Rum Life Book 3 "Ivy House Tales 1970 to 1984"

CHAPTER 18

THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER

As a ‘run up’ to the actual ‘explosive’ conclusion of
this tale, I will explain some of the background.

During my time working for the Firestone Tyre and
Rubber Company (UK ) and working in South
Lincolnshire, I had made friends with Hugh, my local
counterpart working for Dunlop the famous UK Tyre
company.
Our backgrounds were similar, Hugh and his family
lived in the countryside but unlike Ruth and myself,
Hugh’s wife did not have a full time occupation of her
own. He had no great interest in motors and
consequently their family had only one car, the
Dunlop company car.
It was this fact that caused Hugh to lose his job with
Dunlop and seek a career in a different direction,
unbeknown to us, all this had a knock on affect on
our lives too.
The story goes like this, a few years previously, Hugh had a car accident and found
himself in the long term part of the Orthopaedic ward at our local hospital. Ruth was the
senior staff nurse on this ward where Peter, our neighbour on the new ‘Woodside’ estate
was the ‘Charge Nurse’ and consequently her immediate boss!

ANOTHER ACCIDENT
Not to bore you with all the trivial comings and goings, we will jump quickly to the evening
when I arrived to collect Ruth from a split shift day and she asked me, as I was there, as it
were, to explain to Hugh that his wife had just been admitted on the female side of the
same department after another car accident!
Yes, she had been travelling to present an evening ‘party’ of some description to a group
of ladies in the south of the County. The only problem was that she had been driving
Hugh’s company car.
No, not the one he had ruined in his accident, this was the replacement, a brand new BMC
1300. Hugh had never even seen this one, it had been sent by the company for his use
once he had recovered and was fit for work.
He never did get back to work for Dunlop, the heavens descended on him from a great
height, the company decided that his incapacity, that is, on long term ‘traction’ for a broken
femur, would not preclude him from getting the sack for causing two company vehicles to
be written off within two months of each other!
What on earth has all this to do with Fire Extinguishers you might be saying, but we will get
there eventually.

UNDERGEAR
Now, as some form of recompense, Hugh’s father in law set Hugh up as a ‘branch’ of his
own company that was based in Birmingham. Hugh’s father in law manufactured axles and
hydraulic rams, mainly for sale to the agricultural trade. So Hugh was well placed to sell

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