The Cream Van

The cobbled yard of a red brick engineering works in southern England on a clear early spring morning, low sun casting long shadows across damp cobbles, a large box-bodied lorry eight metres long parked along the wall, its tall body of cream-white and pale grey sheet panels joined by rows of rivets, the flanks plain and unmarked, three small windows, a squat ventilation box above the cream-white cab, a ribbed radiator grille, round headlamps, a blank number plate, the side door open above short wooden steps with warm light inside, a short queue of workers in dark overcoats and flat caps seen from directly behind, faces turned fully away.