NOT AS MUCH FUN AS FIONA

Walking through the biggest warehouse on Hull Docks with ten thousand baying dockers yelling" PARASITE" at the tops of their voices. Just me, in the obligatory suit and carrying the obligatory Uher tape recorder, and a reporter from the Hull Mail. As we progressed through the centre of this crowd we saw the dockers' leaders high up on a dais at the far end of the room. I climbed up the stairs and the top man, Walter Cunningham, smiling broadly, shook my hand. "They're a bit excited this morning. You don't mind, do you?" That was the second occasion I had seen the sharp difference between the leaders and the pack. And in case you're thinking the top guys were soft let me assure you they were anything but. They became the leaders by being the toughest guys on the block, and then some. Happy memories.