A crane driver at Churchill Retirement Living’s new Apsley Lodge development in Hampshire has made three little boys’ wishes come true, when he came down from his office, 30 metres up, to have his lunch with them.
Eight year old George Osborne and his twin brothers Oscar and Oliver, who are six, met with Luke Bennett on Wednesday and interviewed him about his job, before Luke made the climb back up to his cab and spoke to them over his walkie talkie.
Shane Osborne, the boys’ father, said: “We live in Cowplain and my wife, Louise, drives the boys past the Churchill site on London Road everyday on their journey to Berewood Primary School. They always wave to the crane driver – who they affectionately named Colin – and ‘Colin’ always waved back.
“They were always pleased to see him, but Oscar in particular had a lot of questions about him – like how did he get up there? We decided to ask Churchill if our boys could meet ‘Colin’ so that Oscar could ask him the questions himself – and we were delighted when they said yes!”
Oscar Osborne, age six, said: “I liked meeting the crane driver, Luke. I asked him: Where do you go to the toilet?”
Luke said: “I was more than happy to come down and meet the boys. It is a very exciting job, even for a 41 year old like me and I am not surprised they had lots of questions. I always like to give them a wave too – it makes my morning.”
Luke and the construction team have since received some thank you notes from the boys which are now proudly displayed on the site office notice board.
When it opens, Apsley Lodge will be a collection of one and two bedroom privately owned retirement apartments and shared facilities, designed exclusively for the over 60s. For more information and to keep up to date with this development please have a look at Apsley Lodge here.