“A great reason why a gloomy history may repeat itself
is that we may have neglected what history did.”
I hoped you checked out the
“Deans 140 years of craftsmen” section earlier in the website. I
was inspired to write something after I saw a Jacksons bakery
van-wrap talking about their Hull story.
I try not to be ruled by the past, but I do think people need to learn the
lesson it has taught us. Like technology cannot rule our lives. An iPad can’t
tile a bathroom. I like to think I am a man of the 21st century. I have all the
latest PAT testing equipment, phones, website and Instagram accounts. But a
quick look at my family history shows none of this was really important when my
family was in its hey day. When the Deans built the Crescent hotel at Ilkley
they didn’t have text messages sent from Plumbfix
asking how their last order was – and how can they improve. I get a dozen more
each week straight to my phone.
No, back in the early Victorian-era plumbers glazed windows, talked to each
other – rather than texted – and walked to work. My family has a proud
tradition of building and construction. I am pleased to carry that on. Building
hotels, houses and factories, the Deans have done it all. Back when they
started, it was done to a very-high standard of craftsmanship. The Crescent
Hotel is still looking good today. They did not require laser plumb lines, 12v
drills and air-tools. Thankfully modern plumbing can embrace new tools. But,I
have yet to find a laptop which can lug a tool tote.
