Forgotten Voice

One of our managers was fantastic and often used to come back into Hursley if we had to work overtime to provide ‘encouragement’. (I shall refer to him as ‘B’) At one stage, we were grappling with a knotty problem which only appeared at high temperatures. The environmental chambers were in the basement of C-block. ‘B’ obviously knew about the problem and that we would be working that evening - he said that he would come in later. At that time, some of the door badge-readers could be a bit temperamental, so we told ‘B’ that if he encountered a problem, the door would actually open if it was pushed. After trying his badge a number of times, ’B’ took our advice and pushed the door – it didn’t open. He then applied a bit more force, but still no joy !! Not willing to be beaten, he took a few steps backwards, ran at the door with his shoulder taking the impact. The door burst open, splitting the surround from floor to ceiling !! He came into the chamber, told us what had happened, and asked for an explanation. We then realised that, as there were two doors to that area, he had come in the ‘wrong’ one !!! Never did hear how he explained this to security !!