Digging Deep

Met up with colleagues old and new this afternoon for the Annual Members Forum of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. The event was held at the National Coal Mining Museum near Wakefield.

We had an interesting speaker - Paul Farrington - Head of Food Safety at Harrods which has 27 restaurants and 5 food halls and strives to give the Ultimate Luxury Customer Experience irrespective of whether you buy a £6 burger or a £60,000 diamond.

The museum's underground tours had finished by the time our meeting was over so we could only look round the surface exhibits and spend some time in the sun at the adjacent nature reserve.

I am stood here on the glass-topped ventilation shaft. Before the introduction of mechanical ventilation a fire would be lit at the bottom of the 140 metre deep shaft and convection currents would provide ventilation to the mine. The red light is at the bottom of the shaft. People on the underground tours can look up and see people stood on the glass.