The jobs we did before and after our Sea life .

[John Pruden]

I worked for a demolition company from the age of 12 by 14 I could use burning gear like the best of them the firm had a lot of railway contracts so one day you could be in other parts of the country the next somewhere else worked on the dock sheds at Vitoria dock Birkenhead and laughed at the lads in a lifeboat rowing around little did I know I would be one of them a year later? I have never been out of work done all things in construction and a floating crane piling drains you name it mostly plastering joinery loved the building game? jp

[cappy]

#good to hear john ......it will be good to see you again dont forget ...its damp and miserable here early in the year best month is always i think june .....the powers that be are forcasting big snow early on ....and into jan a feb ......hope all goes well in the results ....but we are getting older and must expect to have these probs...but as we always say ...worse things happen at sea we no all about that game ....only one copper ever bothered me in shields the name of footman ,,,,and a big bugger too didnt like a seaman being with his daughter .....but she did lol .....i think he was just jealous.....lets no when you get your results ....regards cappy ...ps you owe me 7 and six and mary 3p

[j.sabourn]

#101 Would very nearly have joined you John if my old man had kept his mouth shut after my first trip. I couldn’t let him be right and go to work with him. We had an old black and white photo always on display in the house taken in the early 1900s with all the family dressed in their crinolines and bowler hats . In front of the family home with a billboard stuck on the house saying Sabourn and sons Builders and Chimney Sweep. Maybe the chimney sweep bit raised my hackles. Still have the photo somewhere. Cheers JWS

[John Pruden]

john back in the days after working for £30.00 a month within two days at home earning £180.00 per week working on the building of the seaforth terminal 12 hour shifts driving heavy plant most caterpillar Euclid motor scrapers my father was terminally ill that put an end to my sea going but family always comes first I have always earned good money the only thing is after my first stroke and heat attack I gave it all away?jp

[Jim Dixon]

Well John, that is interesting and in keeping with what I have always believed that those with a background as a deck rating were resourceful and could turn their hand to most things.The above may 'fly in the face' of the age old belief that to succeed in the transition from ship to shore one needed a trade. I do not believe this is always the case.
Those of us who went the conventional route in the deck dept in many cases stayed at sea too long and even when the transition was made one stayed in marine related work. What a waste of life!!!

[John Pruden]

jim its half the battle if you look as if you know what you are doing? I went for a job on the john Howards tugs and finished up driving a caterpillar DH8 and many other plant machines. the captain of the tugs just started a fella a couple of minutes before I got to him we had a chat on where I had just came from still sunburned and the GF of dick Hamptons parked his car next to the captains fella called les they said good morning to each other and the captain said les this is an old mate of mine could you give him a job I had only known the capt for a couple of minutes talk about seamen looking after each other and I never met the captain again i had more money than I could spend 12 hours a day 7 days a week and the seaforth terminal is 92ft deep I know I have walked on the bottom of it and feet dry?? jp

[Keith Tindell]

When i was in London taking my ABs ticket, we were sent to West Ham fire station for a one day fire fighting course, bit of a joke really as it was just firing off some extinguishers in the yard, however on completion the guy gave us a talk, and the first thing he said was that London Fire Brigade were desperate for firemen (sorry about the term, but no women firefighters in those days ), and that The fire service would take all you seaman, no questions, ex merchant navy is exactly what we are looking for. That was logged in my brain, and 5 years later i joined the Service, and completed my 30 years, the other candidates we also liked was tradesmen, kt

[Dennis McGuckin]

Thanks Den ,it's a nice thought mate. Maybe one day if we ever get this place sold. Be nice to see BC again. And your good selves of course!

What ever happened to Mike Newell?

[Bill Morrison]

Well John it's strange how thing seem to cross our path. My grand father when de-mobed from the R.N. in 1919 started up in business in the building trade. my father lost it all after the Second World War. This is an advertisement from the 1922 P.O. Directory note chimmey sweep!
Bill

[j.sabourn]

Bill during the war apart from being a choir boy for a very brief time I used to attend Sunday school. For good attendance I won a book called Tommy’s little grains of sand, I think in this kids book reference was made to kids being pushed up chimneys to clean. Maybe subconsciously that had something to my being averse to. Working with my father. Cheers, as to your ref. Working for HMC and E. Going into Yarmouth one time, where there can be a bit of ground swell , the bond locker door fell off. As I was quite busy at the time I just jammed it close , I had about 6 packets of cigarette tobacco in there which also fell out. Coming off the bridge I picked up this tobacco and stuck it in the ships safe and forgot about it. Customs on board with the rummage squad the 2 two ringers In my cabin quaffing my whiskey. A searcher comes in cabin to search and wants the safe opened and finds this tobacco which I had forgotten about , the 2 ringers fined me 40 quid. Couldn’t get my whiskey back which they had quaffed but took their glasses back and told them to eff off. They tried again in Aberdeen but caused them a bit of inconvenience so left me alone for awhile. No doubt I am still in the book although this was 30 odd years ago. Cheers JWS