rsk - The weird and wonderful achievements of RSK

The weird and wonderful achievements of RSK

Consultant chosen to represent Scottish underwater hockey team After years of fervent subaqueous toil, environmental consultant Mike Muir-Wright has been selected for the Scottish Octopush (underwater hockey) team. “It is an honour and a privilege and about time too,” said Mike, who has played the sport for 11 years and represents the Aberdeen Rats at club level. Peter Garbett, head of RSK’s Scottish operations, said: “I know our staff will go to great lengths to achieve a job but I didn’t know they’d go to such depths as well. This is a fantastic achievement by Mike and I'm sure everyone will join me in wishing him the best of luck.”

It's Miller time! Envirolab’s Barry Miller broke the 200mph barrier at the Top Speed Day straight-line motorcycle event, coming second in a highly competitive field. Held at the Elvington airfield near York – the location where Top Gear’s Richard Hammond narrowly avoided death by TV stunt – the aim of the race was simple: the fastest man wins. Having chased the elusive 200mph barrier for several years, Barry managed to crank his Suzuki Hayabusa up to a top speed of 200.9 at his third attempt and secure his podium place. “Achieving a 200mph-plus run on a motorbike is a lot harder than what it sounds, as it is carried out on the main runway over a one-mile stretch and there is only a ¼ mile braking area,” said Barry. With some minor gear tweaks, Barry hopes to hit speeds of up to 208mph at the next top speed meeting in September. “Also held at that event will be the world record wheelie championship; the current record is 178mph over one mile on one wheel. I shall not be running in that as I am not that daft,” he added.

Iwan Jones represents Wales at Home Countries International Regatta Senior Engineering Geologist Iwan Jones pulled of an impressive feat at the Home Countries International Regatta by rowing Wales to second place in the heavyweight quadruple scull and a close third in the heavyweight double sculls event. “Splendid! This is a triumph of age over youth,” said a delighted Iwan, who at 38 was by far the oldest crew member.

RSK flag flown at World Bog Snorkelling championships RSK International's Stuart Livesey has represented Chester in the World Bog Snorkelling championships in Llanwrtyd-wells, squelching in to a highly respectable 51st place. Snorkelers from countries as far afield as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden submerged themselves in unpleasantness to see who could swim two lengths of a 30m peat bog in the fastest time (winning time 1 minute 35 seconds). “I thought a once in a lifetime opportunity was not to be missed,” said Stuart. “Yes it was cold, yes it was dirty, yes we were poorly prepared for the task in hand but it was still a lot better than many of RSK’s ecological surveys!”

RSK Carbon Management and communications director Garry Charnock came up with the idea for his home village of Ashton Hayes to aim to become the UK’s first carbon neutral community . It has gone on to inspire communities around the world and garnered worldwide press (including Garry being interviewed by Graham Norton for a Live Earth broadcast segment).

Viva La Deva conquer the telly RSK’s finest exponents of trivia, the pub quiz team Viva La Deva, narrowly missed out on beating the notoriously infallible TV boffins on the popular Dermot Murnaghan-hosted gameshow, Eggheads in March 2007. Having made a name for themselves on the Chester pub quiz circuit with its unorthodox pre-quiz preparation methods, such as consuming Hákarl (an Icelandic shark delicacy with a high uric content), Viva La Deva were full of confidence as they took on the collective brainpower of the alarmingly knowledgeable Eggheads, a motley crew of five former British quiz champions. “Being on the show wasn't as nerve racking as I thought it would be. We all performed admirably and put up a good fight. We certainly had the Eggheads sweating, although that may have just been the inch of foundation they had on their faces coupled with the studio lights,” said RSK Health & Safety consultant and Viva La Deva member Tim Newton. “Since we did the filming I think the stardom has got to some of us. Andy [Bendell] just spends all day at his desk eating Baskin Robbins Banana Nut Ice Cream, trying to run his EIA empire Howard Hughes-style, and Alec [Moore] is always on the Revlon website, looking for the latest skin products as he doesn’t want to look bad for the paps.” TV’s gain seems to have been the Chester pub quiz scene’s loss. “To be honest we don't go to the pub quiz [at the Bear and Billet, Chester] as often since the big day. It all just pales into insignificance now,” Tim conceded.

RSK Remediation Ltd associate director Frank Westcott has pubished the acclaimed walking guide Walk the Peak District: South, which is available on Amazon Amazon.co.uk synopsis: Seeing Right to Roam as an opportunity to revitalise walking in the Peak District, Mr Westcott's fieldwork began with a walk over Parkhouse and Chrome Hills near Longnor - the start of a 10-month campaign and around 300 miles of walking. The walks cover the whole of the national park south of a line between Macclesfield and Chesterfield, including both the limestone of the Derbyshire Dales and gritstone country around Chatsworth and Stanton Moor. Note: Most stories were originally published in RSK Group’s weekly internal newsletter.