That Seaside Trip

Today is the third anniversary of the following event............................................................


The 5th April 2017 started off as a normal wednesday in my working week as a Surveyor.

My diary had only three entries covering the hours 10.30am to 3pm although having carried out my usual pre-inspection research I knew that the jobs were challenging enough and would give very little by way of respite in between the efforts of concentration called upon when advising a prospective buyer of a house on its condition.

First up was a property that I sensed could be a problem.

It was of a modern split level design fairly typical of an individual build of the  early 1980's but as though the architect was not really sure if his clients wanted a house or a bungalow and so provided both.

The location, just off the centre of a genteel East Coast Town had some great advantages with shops, promenade and seaside attractions just a short walk away. It would equally suit as a home for retirement or a young family.

Scouring old maps in my office in the lead up to the survey had indicated a few unique features about the site on which it was built.

Until the 1960's the land had been a railway marshalling or shunting yard until the Beeching Proposals of that decade saw the passenger route from the town to the regional City of Hull discontinued. The eastern end which provided the access to the road had distinct graduated lines on the Ordnance Survey map denoting steepness of slope. The old rail yard had evidently terminated at the foot of this incline.

As with many bits of land coming out of Railway Board ownership there will have been a few technical difficulties to overcome to permit development for a house.

The Estate Agents brochure, on line, illustrated how these had been tackled with photos suggesting large scale excavation of the heavy clay soils in that the house sat at the bottom of a hole with cliff-like retaining walls on two sides and a rear garden banked up sharply.

There did not appear to be any level external surfaces at all.

Mentally I revised my opinion as to suitability for the retirement sector to specifically the very active and able bodied retirement sector.

It was a glorious morning when I arrived to do my job.

The gated entrance to the house/bungalow could easily be missed as it constituted the only frontage to the road. On first passing in the car the steep drive appeared daunting and I could not see any parking or turning area in front of the house. I left my car just down the road.

Perfectly balanced with ladders and surveying equipment, a skill derived from 30 years of practice, I made my way down the driveway.

It was a mixture of grass track and banana shaped cast concrete strips. On even this brightest of days I felt a gradual darkening as I made my way between the deep side cutting walls.

The owners greeted me , having seen my tentative approach from a first floor or was it upper ground floor window.

We chatted in order to establish a few basic facts although many provided by the owners tallied with my own research. They offered to follow me around but I said that I needed to be outside for about half an hour and would knock on the door when ready to come inside. They clambered up a series of steps and disappeared. I set about my work noting a few features of the building.

Being at the lowest point of the site I may have relaxed slightly in my initial reservations about the aspects of the gradient and mixed surfaces.

As I took a single step towards the concrete apron in front of the integral garage my right leg slid away on a loose aggregate filler just on the edge.

My whole body weight shifted in an attempt to regain balance bearing down on the doubled under limb. Something went snap and a searing pain shot through my physical frame as I fell heavily to the ground.

The ominous sound was not distinguishable as whether from bone, tendon or muscle at first but I felt relieved to be able to wiggle my toes in my shoes. At least it did not appear to be a fracture.

My first thought was one of irony as I had just ordered a new road bike and knew instinctively that it would have to remain in the shipping box in my garage for some time now.

After that bit of dark humour came rationality about my situation.

I was certainly immobilised and sat in a hole. The split level design of the house meant that I was out of any line of sight of the windows and the owners will not have witnessed my accident. At least I was at an occupied place and with a phone signal which is not always the case in my work.

They sounded surprised to receive my phone call for help but were quick to come out and find me sat up against the stone steps.

I remained lucid but whilst his wife arranged for an ambulance the man from the house kept me talking and alert, no doubt based on his experiences in dealing with trauma situations over more than forty years in the armed forces.

The Paramedics found the terrain difficult for reversing in their vehicle and moving me about on a stretcher but I was soon en route to the City Infirmary.

A couple of days ago my right leg quadricep tendon was operated on in an attempt to re-attach it to my knee. I will spare the details although my family did watch a similar operation on You Tube and said it was fascinating.

I have a long recovery period ahead involving no load bearing for the next six to eight weeks followed by, well, we shall have to wait and see.

In the enforced lay off I have great plans for reading, writing and catching up on all of the things that a previously heavy workload so often thwarted.


Postscript; it has been a long and difficult recovery and even now, some 36 months further on, I still feel a bit of stiffness in my upper right leg particularly on colder days. I am blessed that I can work normally, walk easily, cycle and above all am no more of a burden on my loved ones than I usually am.