According to the urbandictionary.com website the phrase ”cooking with gas“ means to efficiently perform a task after a long period of inefficient performance, or possibly failed attempts at a task or project. Hardly Dr Johnson, but there you have it.
Firstly may I extend my thoughts to the good folk of Salford, Greater Manchester, who got caught up in the gas explosion yesterday. Especially so to the poor elderly lady who is critically ill with 30% burns. On the face of it she appears to have been the unwitting cause of the conflagration that partially destroyed a terrace of houses. The fact that the lady in question was blown out of her kitchen into the street was a bit of a clue to where the problem started.
Gas, or more precisely, any combustible gas is a hazard. Cooking with gas became popular in the 1880s. Initially appliance rental schemes were introduced. Ironically, the first scheme was pioneered by the Manchester Gas Committee in 1884.
It seems that following the recent explosion in Salford, up to 30 families may have to be temporarily re-housed. Three houses have been totally destroyed in the unfortunately named Merlin Road.
The Health and Safety Executive is on the case. The fact that a company had recently been doing some work in the kitchen that became the epicentre of the explosion may not escape their notice.
A spokesman for the Manchester Fire Service said that wreckage was strewn up to 100 metres from the blast and that the first thing they noticed was a bath in the middle of someone's garden. I have to say that this by itself is not a discriminator for devastation as you will find a similar sight in council estates across the UK.
One wonders how the artist Lowry, who painted so many of his pictures based on life in Salford would have portrayed the scene in Merlin Road.
Don't forget. Always check that your cowboy - sorry, your home appliance engineer is Corgi registered.
Let's hope that all of those injured make a speedy recovery.
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