Bath at Work June.qxp_Layout 1 20/05/2016 15:56 Page 2
BATH @ WORK Our series of photographic portraits by Neill Menneer shows Bath people at work. View a gallery of Bath@Work subjects at: thebathmag.co.uk
Michelle Dawson Structural engineer
M
y father and uncles were all builders and car mechanics so I grew up in a rather male environment. I was also good at maths and from a very early age wanted to be involved in buildings. However in Caerphilly there were very low career expectations for children and although I wanted to go to university there was a great deal of opposition. My parents would have been happier if I had become a housewife, to be honest, so I had to be very determined to pursue my goal. It created a permanent rift but I needed to get away. And so away I went to Cardiff University to study civil structural engineering. I was the only female student on my course. Hey ho! My relationship with Bath goes way back as my grandmother, an asthmatic, always rented a place here. She lived by the canal, although she came for the air, which seems strange but Bath was famous for its healthy properties. We also used to drive through Bath on the way to Weymouth for the family annual holiday. I used to sit in the back of the Morris and look at all the grand buildings. It made me feel beautifully insignificant. When I finished university it was natural for me to look for a job in Bath. From 1987 I worked for a variety of engineering companies including Mowlem and Whitby Bird. They relocated to Bristol in 2005 so I set up my own business Structurelle Engineering Ltd at that time. I’ve been running it ever since. Most of my jobs have been in Bath but I’ve also worked in London, Cornwall and Sri Lanka. My speciality, other than offering a unique personal service, is that I love to work on difficult sites. Fortunately there are plenty of those in Bath! Sloping sites or with difficult ground conditions or even landslip sites are all great challenges and what I love to be working on. I do my own site investigations, from feeling the soil to analysing the geology. Personally I have had a wonderful time in Bath. I have two gorgeous children, Isla and Mia, and three daschunds called Cookie, Flapjack and Crumpet. I hate my own company so they all keep me very amused. We will either walk to the Botanical Gardens or go up to Alexandra Park and just picnic or take in the fabulous views. I am a great lover of birdsong and have developed a unique way of identifying the bird’s voices. The song thrush sings: “Did he do it? Did he do it? He did,” whereas the wood pigeon sings: “My toe is bleeding.” Strange but true. I’m not a big shopper; in fact I prefer to look at the shops not in them. I love to date the shopfronts and other aspects of the architecture. I’m getting better all the time and have just finished a short architectural course where I work at the Museum of Bath Architecture. As you’ve probably gathered I love my work and am always happy to share my experience with students and to encourage girls especially to give engineering consideration. I’ve talked at Hayesfield and The Royal High schools and am always willing to share my passion with others. n
PORTRAIT: Neill Menneer at Spirit Photographic. Visit: capturethespirit.co.uk, tel: 01225 483151. THEBATHMAG.CO.UK
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JUNE 2016
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ThEBATHMagaziNE 19