During a recent discussion within the works, a member of staff challenged me on our use of the word ‘sustainable’ in relation to what we do (Sustainable, Engineered, Natural Stone) and it made me think that the question deserves a fully considered answer, so I’ve been getting my thoughts on the subject in order, and this is my response.

In May we told you about the first organised Pedalsport event which would be taking place at Rockingstones Quarry courtesy of JWQ.  Since then another 2 exciting rounds have taken place on 10th June and 8th July.

Once again we had a brilliant time at the Great Yorkshire Show. The rain didn’t dampen enthusiasm, the crowds wowed at the variety of entertainment on offer from horse jumping and sheep shearing to fashion, food and motorbikes.

Once again we took part in the fun-tastic ‘It’s a Knockout’ to raise vital funds for Kirkwood Hospice.  The game certainly lived up to expectations, there was lots of water, plenty of washing up liquid and definitely lots of laughs!

The garage team recently came up with a rather novel way to help us reduce our disposal costs of used oil filters. Up to now, following removal from machinery at the end of their working life, the filters were stored in sealed containers to prevent the oil residue they contained becoming an environmental pollution issue. This was good practice, but it took up an awful lot of room whilst we waited for the next waste collection. But what could we do? Jim and the garage team had an idea….

At any time the garage maintenance team’s routine can be turned upside down. All too often they are called away to breakdowns or onsite repairs. These can range from easily recognised and diagnosed problems to something more serious, which will require that the item of plant is brought to the garage. An aspect of the job appearing more frequently these days is computer diagnostics. This feature is present on all newer items of plant and can reduce time in diagnosing faults dramatically. However, not wishing to sound like a dinosaur, the computers on the plant should not always be believed. Ideally, a healthy balance between new technology and ‘hands on’ experience is preferred.

If you are visiting the Great Yorkshire Show this week, be sure to call in on us at the Myers Group exhibition unit.

The first section of the maintenance team I would like to introduce you to is the garage department. Headed by Jim, it is responsible for the servicing and maintenance of all the mobile plant on site. This covers everything from small pallet trucks up to gigantic 110 tonne excavators.  It requires an understanding of state of the art electronics and complicated hydraulics, plus all the bits in between. The range and diversity of the machinery is guaranteed to satisfy even the most ambitious engineer.

Since my last entry I’m pleased to note that the weather has improved. In fact, with the temperature currently in the low to mid twenties you won’t hear any complaints from me. What a contrast to the harsh weather and resulting problems we experienced during last winter. 

Today we were saved from a honey bee swarm by Maureen and Jim Rooney of the Huddersfield District Bee Keeping Association (HDBKA)