knocked it up. I think they were quite horrified with what resulted but it sort of snowballed from there and for a long time I was always the person that wrote the London WRG camp report. Then Helena decided that wasn’t fair and kicked other people until they wrote one instead. I’ve written other bits and pieces through the years.
Q: Are there any particular articles that you’re prepared to confess to? A: Do you remember when we did an anniversary of Navvies, we did a futuristic one which I quite enjoyed doing. There was ‘Dog-gate’ as well which I think I might have been responsible for. Which was what I thought was a throwaway line when I mentioned some overexcited dogs on a camp and it turned into... everyone wrote in. I know the issue of dogs is very controversial in WRG – I absolutely love dogs. One of the things I like about WRG is that there are dogs running about but I appreciate that there are some people who are nervous and it’s always difficult to balance. I think that trod on a few toes.
Q: Do you know Deirdre? A: Yes I do know Deirdre – I’m her representative on earth.
Q: Have there been any letters that Deirdre’s received that have shocked you?
A: I‘ve been in WRG long enough now that nothing shocks me anymore. That’s what’s so great about WRG, the only thing anyone will take you to task on is not pulling your weight.
Q: What are you most proud of about your involvement? certainly my only camp that I’ve actually led myself which I’m proud for having survived. I find it hard to do the project management and [there have been] some difficult characters to manage. I think as a leader you always end up running yourself ragged and there’s a huge sense of achievement from surviving!
Q: What’s the most useful skill you’ve learnt
Martin Lugate
A: There’s a couple of weekends that I’ve led and
Favourite: Cotswolds. Early days at Eisey Lock
and who taught it to you? A: Although I complain about van driving (I’m a nervous driver) it has been quite valuable having that. Martin Ludgate (although we argue like an old married couple at the wheel sometimes) he has been very good and patient with me. I’ve appreciated driving the excavator and the bricklaying – I do appreciate stuff like that. Then you end up being told things in WRG that you’re not really sure you wanted to know but thank you very much – like always leave a car in gear when you park on a hill. Most men in WRG like to tell women useful advice like that so you just have to nod and take it. Also some interesting things about wildlife: we ended up randomly having a chat by a badger expert about bats while we were on one camp. One of the best weekends I’ve ever spent in my whole life was when we went to Somerset last year. Just met some very interesting characters with interesting stories to tell. I think the full version of that is in the last edition of Navvies [For the full version with all the extra bits see London WRG News, downloadable from the WRG website ...Ed] but basically lots of crazy goings on in very obscure corners of Somerset.
Q: Has anyone inspired you? A: Quite a few people; I’m so impressed with people like Mike Palmer who hold down incredibly full-time jobs. You’ve got Eddie as well, and Liz and Ian Williamson, who hold down jobs at a very high professional level and do massive amounts of work and manage to be decent human beings too. I’m one of these people in WRG where you have to be quite defensive about what you take on. One of the phenomenon I think we all see is WRG burnout – some people over-commit themselves without
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