The Firemen interviewed were from the local Salford Fire Brigade near Manchester in England. The areas covered by the research included :- their attitudes to firefighting and to the various types of fires they dealt with : how they dealt with the "down time" when not firefighting : the effect of their shift pattern on their family and leisure time : the overall "work-leisure" relationships of these firemen.

"It's a strange experience when you go in first , and it's really hot.When you go in you usually have a face mask on you know , but your hands are not covered. It's a queer experience. Have you ever put your hands in boiling water? - you pull them out because it is hot but in a hot place there is nowhere to put your hand."

The University of Salford have told me that I own the copyright as I submitted in 1977. It is only more recently , about 2 years ago , that the University started claiming the copyright of students' submitted theses

"The "fiddle" was not otherwise very important to the men; they stressed that they did not like to be tied down by it . They chose work in which they could be free and autonomous"