Dear LPG, 

I was sitting on a train when I read the LPG call for readers who have memories of the world of work back in the day. I have finally learnt the art of reading while traveling and not missing my station.  

I got out, looked up with trepidation and saw the tallest visible thing in the sky, Admiral Nelson still up there balancing on the top of Trafalgar Square.   Why trepidation, you may well ask, and I will tell you that he and I have history.  

I was about 18 and I had started art college when we had our extremely brief encounter.  I still lived at home and college was only three days a week so I decided to work the other two.  My parents said I should concentrate on my studies and although I didn’t really have to, a bit of extra pocket money seemed like a good idea at the time.  I found a cleaning job and it happened to involve becoming part of the small night cleaning crew at Admiralty Arch, just around the corner from Trafalgar Square. All the other workers were friendly, and the work was straight forward; what could go wrong. 

I only had to work three days per week and I started work at 10 o’clock at night and finished at 6 o’clock in the morning, just in time to get an early train home. For the first week I worked with a very nice lady who showed me the ropes and pointed out some of the history of the building as we hoovered and dusted.  I remember a Sedan chair in one of the corridors which worried me a little, and I will always remember her pointing out the room where Nelson lay in state, although I don’t really know how true it all was.

A week later I was on my own and I was left to clean that section of the building all by myself. I never visited during the day but at night, the whole building was dark and somewhat eerie which was fine when there were two of us, but when I was on my own it became a bit more of a problem for me.  Luckily, we were allowed to take music which made it all seem a bit better.  I would listen to Capital radio and the pop music helped, although at 11 o’clock each night they would feature a ghost story which worried me even more. 

By the beginning of the third week I noticed that when I got to the ‘state room’, a bust of the man himself was above the door and his eyes were in the middle.  I was studying art and every artist knows that if the eyes are drawn or sculpted so that they are looking straight ahead, no matter where you are, they always appear to be looking at you.  

All the cleaners came together for a lunch break in the middle of each night and I really enjoyed those.  We would chat and I did mention my concerns but was told that everyone feels that initially but I would get over it in the end. 

I am afraid that the end came two days later for me.  That was as much as I could stand.  It was not the job or the people, who I will always rate as some of the best workmates I ever encountered, but Lord Nelson’s piercing eyes forced me to hand in my notice after three short weeks and now, even though he is so far up that I can’t see exactly where he is looking, every time I look to the top of Trafalgar Square I feel that he is looking down at me…

WV, Crofton Park.

LPG found a little information about the building and the man…

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