Those who remember me from school, will not be surprised to know that my pursuit of my career options after leaving the School was as desultory as my pursuit of academic excellence whilst there.
Mick and his family – Christmas 2008 (Click to enlarge)
So, after my last day in 6AL in 1959 and heading off to the Nursery Arms with Len Norman and others, I became a trainee surveyor with the old London County Council. Three years of that was enough for me, sadly. For some of that time, I took over a flat in Brixton from Dave Hampton and Arthur Wells. I shared it with the late Doug Hayler and a mate of his from the Prudential.
London was good in the early-sixties. The Flamingo in Wardour Street; Doug Dobell’s Jazz Record Shop in Charing Cross Road; countless pubs; all took my money and offered little by way of a career.
Eventually, I went back to Bognor to consolidate my career path. Jobs at LEC; as a Unigate milkman; builder’s labourer; plus any number of useless jobs in and around Brighton, Hove, and south London again, and elsewhere. Spike Glue, Rocco Walters, and a few other old boys were amongst my mates then. The Elephant and Castle in Steyne Street, and Derek Starkey’s Hole in the Wall, Fishbourne Jazz Club, and numerous Sussex pubs, all provided a backdrop to my life at that time.
So, it was probably a relief when marriage intervened in 1966 in Bognor and two sons followed. I settled down to minor clerical jobs in Durban Road Industrial Estate, Bersted; and later at Nyetimber. Being a union representative got me the sack from one and being uncommitted did not always help with the others. But, through all this, the legacy of Tom Beastall left its mark. I read history books voraciously so that, by 1975, I was ready to do an Open University course, A100, as it was then. There I met, or perhaps met again, Barry Fogden and we became firm friends. I also met a woman who lived near me. She asked me to meet her husband, and in so doing, I met his sister, Heather. So one marriage ended, and another lay ahead.
Heather was a bit of an academic. Thanks to her, and the Open University, I gave up work and went to Portsmouth Poly to study History full-time. It went well and a Masters and later a D. Phil. programme followed at Sussex University. I became a historian, although the D Phil fell victim to Maggie Thatcher’s budget cuts, and I never finished it. But my work got an airing and still has influence, so that was good.
Whilst not studying, I had two children with Heather, a daughter, and a son. I joined the Prison Service as a teacher of Information Technology and then around 1993, Heather decided she needed to go home to Australia. So in 1995, we did just that.
At 53 I thought I would never work again, but I did. First as a computer technician in rural New South Wales, then in various jobs as a trainer on courses of varying usefulness in and around the Northern Tablelands of the state. My English history knowledge made little contribution to my Australian career, although it did, later, earn me an adjunct senior lectureship at the University of New England in Armidale NSW, where I now live.
So, this Christmas, I sit on the futon (布団 traditional Japanese bedding comprising a quilted mattress that is usually laid on the floor) with my son, Jack, and his partner. My daughter, Brighde is in Rwanda watching gorillas. She was here in October and will be again in February. Fortunately, her job in Bangkok provides loads of holidays. In England, my son, Steve, lives with his wife and offspring in Dorset. My other son, Paul, lives in Chichester with grandchildren that I have not yet met. All are well and happy.
Life doesn’t get much better than that.