ABSTRACT
Graham Fagg thought he was in trouble. After a normal shift as chargehand fitter for the UK service tunnel he had been summoned to the Transmanche Link management offices and that normally spelt bad news. His refusal that week to wear the garish orange TML overalls seemed to have reached the ears of the big bosses. “When they told me I had to report to the office I figured it was for disciplinary action,” he said. “Just recently I had been in a picture in TML’s in-house magazine, The Link” and I’d been the only one wearing denims rather than the orange uniform. I’m a bit of a rebel like that.” But when Fagg got to the office he found he was not in trouble. Far from it. His name had been pulled out of a hat and he had won the right to complete the breakthrough between Britain and France and meet his French counterpart in an historic gesture in front of the TV cameras underground. Graham Fagg is typical of the breed of phlegmatic construction workers that are the backbone of the industry. He takes everything in his stride and is unlikely to get overly excited about pomp and ceremony. It’s an attitude prevalent in civil engineering, borne of being prepared for anything and accepting that the job can so often disrupt plans and all you can do is get on with it in good humour.
