The West Winford Incident

Whilst Neil Armstrong is taking his giant leap for mankind, here on Earth the Harrison family prepares for a more modest step, from Birmingham to rural Wiltshire.

Dave and Sue Harrison are beginning their new life and excitement beckons. Dave, a metallurgist, is taking up a new appointment and is keen to tackle his job with enthusiasm. In contrast, his wife’s loneliness is exacerbated by her husband’s single-minded approach to his work. She vows to act...

As Sue’s new friendship with Pam, a larger-than-life character, blossoms, she finds herself led into the emerging hobby of genealogy. This provides a welcome distraction, but does little to ease the marital tension that continues to intensify due to a catastrophic failure of a turbine at a Hampshire power station, where a member of staff is killed. As Dave’s stress levels are pushed to the limit, he is left to work tirelessly to defend his job; putting his marriage, his future and the lives of others on the line.

Inspired by authors such as George Eliot and Neal Stephenson, The West Winford Incident is a work of adult fiction that will allow readers to explore the technical aspects of both the methodology of engineering plant failure analysis and the intricacies of genealogical research in the pre-computer age. It also explores some of the major effects of the dramatically changing relationships between men and women in the late 1960s and considers if marriage will survive in the 21st century.

John Parker is a qualified metallurgist, Chartered Engineer and a former Fellow of the Institute of Corrosion. He lives in Wiltshire with his wife, Margarette. They have three children. Among John’s interests are literature, genealogy, orienteering and running.