Trolley 5

Another M&S trolley, this one snapped up from the recreation ground in what used to be the grounds of Long Grove Hospital, with what used to be ward blocks visible at the top of the picture. Trolley presumably dumped by one of the affordables included amongst the more desirables. Gmaps 51.342169, -0.278262.

Black smudges can be seen on the legs and there was quite a lot elsewhere, with most of it scrubbing off with a bit of water but with some of it bonded to the metal. Not oily or greasy, so not the residue of that sort of fire, but some kind of fire seems to be indicated, with further evidence of same being a slight melting on one end of the green plastic handle. Took about half an hour to get it reasonably clean and the trolley has now been returned to its home in the High Street.

One bonus from being up close and personal with the trolley was that I discovered the tag of the maker, which turns out to be Wanzl of Warwick (http://www.wanzl.com/en_EN/). Mr Wanzl appears to be something of a mover and shaker in the world of shopping trolleys, based in Germany but getting the idea from the US back in 1947 or so. It seems that Mr Wanzl was one of the refugees chucked out of the Sudetenland after the second world war, where I dare say he and his ancestors had been living for hundreds of years - but, unlike some other refugees that one can think of, this one has clearly made good.

And I have learned that trolleys are not stainless steel, despite their bright and cheerful appearance, rather galvanised steel with some sort of a plastic finish. Which would explain how the one above comes to be a scratched, which one would have had a job to manage with stainless.

For the convenience of readers you can read all about it at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8152054/1151_Company-Factbook_EN.pdf and https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8152054/553_SeriesDR_EN.pdf.