Manual Work.

I have done a bit in my time... Especially my 15yrs as a caretaker... T'other day her indoors suggested grinding the old mortar out around my bay window and repointing it due to a small damp patch. Did that... Took me 5hrs to repoint it... Up and down.. Bending.. Kneeling etc... At the end I was jiggered.. So I take my hat off to you who have done manual and industrial work in your lifetime. The day after I was as stiff as a board. .. Interested in this toil I looked the gold old Navvy.... He could shift 12 square metres of muck a day.... That's equivalent to digging a trench 3feet.wide by 3feet deep to a distance of 36 feet...per DAY.... WOW

BB: I was recently been asked to do some work on the navvies that did work on clearing paths for the railroads in the north. I specifically looked for burials of the men who worked clearing paths for the railroads. It was horrific really. All men, from Ireland mainly, dying from blowing up rocks to make tunnels, the manchester to leeds line is bad. These men died, buried whereabouts their injuries were caused, in the middle of a field or wherever, no grave markings. Really, really sad, compared with today. All of those men had mothers, none knew where they had died, their religion, although mostly there was a minister to give last rights. So sad.

very true Platty. The Irish were exploited by those who made money building canals and railways. So many desperate Irish coming over that they competed for jobs on a pittance. It's topical now to speak against slavery but this period in history isn't mentioned. You don't need to be black to be a slave.

BB, it just shows that the person who made the old saying " a good days hard work, never hurt anyone" did't have a clue what he was on about, If it makes you feel any better, I've done manual work all my working life, lifting boilers , baths,other heavy goods off wagons took them up multiple flights of stairs , then fitted them and you get used to it but, If I was to do just half a day now, I too would be stiff as a board as well, So the other old saying,
" use it or you lose it " is a very true saying,

Use it or lose it, very true. I decided to completely remove a bush yesterday. Chopped it down to ground level only to find it must have sent runners out resulting in three separate root systems. Managed to dig them up. Not done anything so strenuous for ages, went to bed exhausted.

I cant see a lot of today's youth doing solid graft for 10 hours a day.