Messages from the past

History isn't always about something big, like the Castle.
Sometimes it's written in pencil on a partition wall....

We had the first snow of the year yesterday. Combined with fog, the slush underfoot made things look pretty miserable. I came up into Lion Street from the clock tower in time to see Richie emerging from the cellar where the council keeps the Christmas lights. He was scratching his head and looking glum. "Don't think we'll get much done today," he said. Jackie was inside, and she called me over to see what they'd found the day before. There's a wooden partition wall just inside the entrance, and there's a message written on it in pencil, faint enough that you wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for it.
It gives a name, and the date he started work in 1940 - and the date he left to join the Navy and serve his country in 1941. Jackie and Richie are going to see Eric Pugh, to see if he knows anything about the man who wrote the message. What Eric doesn't know about Hay isn't worth knowing. It would be nice to find out if the writer of the message ever came back.
As I was about to go, Richie asked "Have you ever been up the clock tower?"
I haven't - but everyone who has ever worked up there has left their name written on the walls, right back over a hundred years, including Jackie, who was very proud to be part of the tradition.