Rare Footage: I can still work a Spanner

Every now and then it’s healthy to remind people (and yourself) that engineering doesn’t just happen behind a laptop screen.

The photo above is rare footage of me not at a desk; instead, back where I started: on the steel, in PPE, and directly involved in maintenance work offshore at Courseulles-sur-Mer, supporting Menck Marine Foundations.

While most of my time these days is spent planning, reviewing, problem-solving, and generally trying to keep projects moving in the right direction, I’ve always believed that hands-on skills are perishable. If you don’t use them, you lose them; and worse, you lose perspective.

This particular task formed part of recent maintenance support works offshore. Nothing glamorous, nothing headline-worthy; just proper engineering: access challenges, heavy steel, hydraulics, awkward positions, and the usual “who designed this and why” moments that come with working on large marine structures.

But that’s exactly the point.

Staying physically involved in maintenance work keeps decision-making grounded. It sharpens judgement when reviewing procedures, method statements, lift plans, or risk assessments; because you’re not imagining the task, you’ve felt it. You know where the pinch points really are. You know what’s awkward, what’s realistic, and what absolutely won’t work at 02:00 in poor weather.

It also keeps credibility intact. Teams offshore spot very quickly whether advice is coming from experience or from theory alone.

So yes; this is proof that the desk hasn’t completely won yet. The laptop still gets shut, the harness still goes on, and the tools still get used when needed.

And long may that continue.