19 JANUARY 1985, Page 20

Sleepers, awake 'These are testin g times for the forei g n exchan g e

dealers of the City of Lon- don. One of them, watching the snow fall nearly as heavily as the pound, thought to provide for the wood-burning stoves which heat his house. He tested the market, and found himself offered a vast consignment (discount for quantity) of old railway sleep- ers. Decisive as ever, he clinched the deal. The sleepers have arrived at his house. They are concrete.

Christopher Fildes