Little did I know. Hazel said, "I need a new whirly". I said, "Yes, ok".

First, measure the width of the drying area, 9 foot 2 inches at the narrowest point. Second telephone the nearest DIY home-store.

"Do you sell whirlys?".
"Pardon".
"Whirlys, things for drying washing on".
"Oh, you mean Rotary Airers".
"Do I?".

It appears that I do.

"Could you tell me the size?". I ask.
"Um ar, umm arr, wait a minute, ah, 25, 35 and 45"
"25, 35 and 45 What? Inches?".

Quick calculation to self, 2 foot, three foot and four foot, not very big are they.

Assistant, "No, 25, 35 and 45 ems"
"What on earth is an ems?"
"Metres"

Now I am old, well, old school, metres I know are about 3 feet, 25x3 feet is 75 foot.

"It's a drying area not a bloody football pitch".
"Sorry that's the smallest that we have".

We eventually decided to drive to the store and look for ourselves.

There is a lot of information on the label but not the information that we want, the information that every potential buyer will require, Diameter or is it circumference, the space that it needs to swing around in.

Part two of this story, the removal of the old whirly, will appear later, the pain in my back requires me to lay back down on a hard floor for a while.