School
My first school was Saint Vincents primary, near Baker street in London it was run by Catholic Nuns, and also a few ordinary teachers who were very strict and scary, and who, I now blame for my poor education as I was terrified by some of them, so much so, that it suppressed my natural intelligence causing me to fail my 'eleven plus' exam's, rendering me unworthy of a place at Grammar school.
So my next school was at Saint Georges secondary modern near Kilburn. Where I was equally unhappy and not doing very well, just getting by.
My parents realized the low standard of education I was getting and decided to send me to private school, we decided on a drama school as a friend had recommended it. There I flourished and began to enjoy school, I excelled in Maths and French and began to win school prizes, I took Ballet and modern dance and was quite good too and I became head boy!
Unfortunately I had to leave at age fifteen as my mother was pregnant and another income was needed.
I joined an advertising company in Charing Cross Road, as a dispatch Clerk with a view to rising through to management, which never seemed to present an opportunity.
But I enjoyed travelling around the south, delivering print blocks or collecting advertising proofs etc. I came to know London and the transport system very well. One day the Art director needed a Horses Kidney to photograph, so I was sent off to the Knacker Yard near Kings Cross. The smell was awful and there was blood all over the floor being hosed away into drains. They were just getting an old horse in for slaughter, they asked me if I'd like to watch, I quickly declined. They took about five minutes and brought the Kidneys out to me, they were wrapped in white paper and were still hot. I found that pretty disturbing, but got on with it, they were still warm when I handed them to the art director, it unsettled him a bit too.
In January 1963 when I was 16, still
uncertain of what I really wanted to do, and felt life was a little boring, I
needed to change my job to something more glamorous.
So my next school was at Saint Georges secondary modern near Kilburn. Where I was equally unhappy and not doing very well, just getting by.
My parents realized the low standard of education I was getting and decided to send me to private school, we decided on a drama school as a friend had recommended it. There I flourished and began to enjoy school, I excelled in Maths and French and began to win school prizes, I took Ballet and modern dance and was quite good too and I became head boy!
Unfortunately I had to leave at age fifteen as my mother was pregnant and another income was needed.
Advertising
But I enjoyed travelling around the south, delivering print blocks or collecting advertising proofs etc. I came to know London and the transport system very well. One day the Art director needed a Horses Kidney to photograph, so I was sent off to the Knacker Yard near Kings Cross. The smell was awful and there was blood all over the floor being hosed away into drains. They were just getting an old horse in for slaughter, they asked me if I'd like to watch, I quickly declined. They took about five minutes and brought the Kidneys out to me, they were wrapped in white paper and were still hot. I found that pretty disturbing, but got on with it, they were still warm when I handed them to the art director, it unsettled him a bit too.
Racing Stable
I was browsing through the Evening
Standard, when an 'ad' caught my eye.
It said, looking for a Lad to do a
probationary period and if successful, become an Apprentice Jockey,
“right up my street” I thought, remembering my earlier 'Yen' for
all things equine, even though I had never ridden a horse!
I was very short and slim and looked
about 13 in those days, still very fit too, as my then current job in
London involved a lot of walking.
“Time to strike out into the world,”
I thought, imagining myself winning classic races by lengths just
like 'Scobie Breasley'.
I dwelt on it for a couple of days
trying to raise the courage to tell my parents.
“That paper is two
days” old said my father, “what's so interesting, that you keep
looking at it?"
I had'nt realized it was so obvious.
Without saying anything I tossed the paper to him.
After reading down the other
'classifieds' his eyes settled back on the advert I'd lightly circled
in pencil.
“You sure” he said giving me a
sideways disbelieving gaze, “You've had it two days, so you must
have thought it over by now”. “ I'd like to give it a go” said
I. He quickly got up and came over while I started to duck, expecting
a sharp slap on the head.
When he sat down beside me and said,
“you'll have to build those thighs of yours up” and then he promptly set
about showing me a thigh building exercise.
“ He likes it!” I thought, then
Mum came in wondering what he was doing, she liked it too!
That's it I thought, “I'm going to be
a Jockey”.
To cut a long story short, 'Col. John
Meacock' the owner/trainer liked me too! and within a few weeks Dad drove me to 'Treetops' the Racing Stable at Ropley, near Alresford,
Hampshire. To begin my three month probationary period to become an
apprentice Jockey.
The Monday morning began with a rude awakening at 6.30 am, it was February and very cold my bunk was a little damp, as was everything in that cold Bungalow that we Stable Lads lived in.
We jointly prepared our own breakfast and were to start work at 7.0am, the other Lads most of whom were riders were preparing to start exercising the horses, whilst I would be taught how to make up their feed and muck-out the stables.
John Meacock had twenty two horses at Treetops in 1963, so there was plenty of work to be done, seven days a week from dawn till dusk, sometimes later.
The work was very hard, loads of bales of hay and straw to be carried around and forked out.
Heavy buckets of oats, bran etc. to be carried around and plenty of muck to be moved and put onto the giant pile we created just outside the main gate, I was paid £3 pw and had to give £2 back for food and lodging, so really it was £1 pw, they saw me coming!
I was shown all of the Horses and told to remember their names, which in itself was quite a task as they all had Persian or Arab names, 'Khoja Hafiz, Vakil ul Mulk, Kara Su, Khubla Khan etc. etc.
I'd made up my mind to do the best I could, If I could make it through the training, the rewards could be astronomical, however the percentage of jockeys who made it to the top earners was very low, as I later discovered.
Though the other lads accepted me and were good to me, I felt strangely out of place, but I think it was the loneliness being away from my family, I made pals with a couple of the horses. One in particular was 'Khoja Hafiz' a three year old Bay Colt, he used to nudge me about, when I cleaned his stable, I soon started teasing and talking to him. After a while this led to a kind of affection, after all Khoja seemed to understand everything I said.
On the other hand, Kara Su, a Black colt, was very skittish and nervous, at first it was dangerous to go into his stable, but one day I remembered something I read as a boy, that Red Indians, would calm their ponies by blowing through their nostrils into the ponies nostrils (apparently telling it 'I mean you no harm'), so I decided to try it and was amazed to find it worked! After gently approaching outside the stall, blowing through my nostrils, Kara Su held his head still whilst allowing me within a couple of inches, I then stopped and stepped back, it was a though he were a different horse altogether. He let me go into his stable and gently nudge him aside as I 'Mucked out' around him, it was incredible!
After a couple of months, I decided, I was not cut-out for the Racing world, I found the work very hard and could no longer see myself as a Jockey, I had only just learned the Basics of riding, the other lads were skilled riders so it would take me years to get a race. The day I left I went to see 'Khoja' who was Racing at Warwick the following week. " You'd better win" I said " or I'll never come back". He won that Race by lengths, but I never did see him again.
We jointly prepared our own breakfast and were to start work at 7.0am, the other Lads most of whom were riders were preparing to start exercising the horses, whilst I would be taught how to make up their feed and muck-out the stables.
John Meacock had twenty two horses at Treetops in 1963, so there was plenty of work to be done, seven days a week from dawn till dusk, sometimes later.
The work was very hard, loads of bales of hay and straw to be carried around and forked out.
Heavy buckets of oats, bran etc. to be carried around and plenty of muck to be moved and put onto the giant pile we created just outside the main gate, I was paid £3 pw and had to give £2 back for food and lodging, so really it was £1 pw, they saw me coming!
I was shown all of the Horses and told to remember their names, which in itself was quite a task as they all had Persian or Arab names, 'Khoja Hafiz, Vakil ul Mulk, Kara Su, Khubla Khan etc. etc.
I'd made up my mind to do the best I could, If I could make it through the training, the rewards could be astronomical, however the percentage of jockeys who made it to the top earners was very low, as I later discovered.
Though the other lads accepted me and were good to me, I felt strangely out of place, but I think it was the loneliness being away from my family, I made pals with a couple of the horses. One in particular was 'Khoja Hafiz' a three year old Bay Colt, he used to nudge me about, when I cleaned his stable, I soon started teasing and talking to him. After a while this led to a kind of affection, after all Khoja seemed to understand everything I said.
On the other hand, Kara Su, a Black colt, was very skittish and nervous, at first it was dangerous to go into his stable, but one day I remembered something I read as a boy, that Red Indians, would calm their ponies by blowing through their nostrils into the ponies nostrils (apparently telling it 'I mean you no harm'), so I decided to try it and was amazed to find it worked! After gently approaching outside the stall, blowing through my nostrils, Kara Su held his head still whilst allowing me within a couple of inches, I then stopped and stepped back, it was a though he were a different horse altogether. He let me go into his stable and gently nudge him aside as I 'Mucked out' around him, it was incredible!
After a couple of months, I decided, I was not cut-out for the Racing world, I found the work very hard and could no longer see myself as a Jockey, I had only just learned the Basics of riding, the other lads were skilled riders so it would take me years to get a race. The day I left I went to see 'Khoja' who was Racing at Warwick the following week. " You'd better win" I said " or I'll never come back". He won that Race by lengths, but I never did see him again.
Saleman
Once again I had a complete change of direction, I went to Bentalls of Ealing, as a soft furnishings Salesman, there I met Fred Rezza an accomplished highly paid salesman who taught me to sell all with style and with a flourish, treat the Ladies like Royalty, yet be casual in approach, if they wanted to take a closer look at a material, toss the bail and show them yards of it, ketch it up in a pleat between your fingers and move it around to catch the light, this was a sure fire way to get them to admire a material, a sale was 'in the bag'.
However, though fun for a while, this still wasn't the career for me, I got a call from a friend at the advertising company, who said, they'd like me back.
Advertising (again)
So back I went to Charing Cross, I was given a bit more money, but the Job was the same, the company would not expand and it was 'Dead Man's Shoes' to get a vacancy in the office.
I started to consider once more what had been on my mind for some time to join the forces!
The Royal Navy
The Army was definitely not for me, so I started to research the RAF and the Royal Navy. In the end I decided it was to be the Royal Navy 'to see the World' and I did, so much so, that I've dedicated a complete page and some short stories to it. Click on 'My Ships' or 'Short Stories'.
I served Nine years plus an additional three in special class reserve, I was now 27 years of age and having sown my wild oats and now mature enough to consider a proper career, so I selected retraining in Electronics upon leaving the Navy.
*************************************************************
I served Nine years plus an additional three in special class reserve, I was now 27 years of age and having sown my wild oats and now mature enough to consider a proper career, so I selected retraining in Electronics upon leaving the Navy.
Electronics
The training was, Electronic Wiring and Circuit Testing, a seven month full time course in Perivale, Middlesex. It was a Government retraining center and at the time was held in high regard within the Electronics Industry, I took to it like a duck to water and excelled in every aspect of it.
The Electronics Industry stood me in 'good stead' over the years and there is too much to write here so I've simply provided a link to my latest CV. Here
Sea Shepherd
In the mid-eighties I decided to have a crack at designing and marketing my own product and being a keen Sailor and also wishing to help my Business pay part for my Boat.
I decided to design 'Sea Shepherd' i tried several different designs before I got it right.
After about a year of slow sales. completely redesigned it under the new name 'Cerberus'
with more functionality and room for software customization.
Unfortunately at that time Britain went into deep recession and the entire project had to be shelved. ( I wish Ebay had been around at the time, it may have saved it.)
*************************************************************
Toastmaster
In his retirement years my father was a Toastmaster, when he died in 1999, I decided if the time came when I'd need another 'string to my bow' I'd take up where he left off.
So late 2003 work was becoming scarce for me in the Electronics industry, much was changing, so I took a course in Suffolk at the UK School for Professional Toastmasters.
This was indeed a valuable string to my bow, I soon had plenty of bookings for Weddings and other formal Dinners of many varied cultures. I even landed the job as official Toastmaster at the Premier and Champagne reception of the film 'Master and Commander' at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth. It was a simultaneous premier to London, given by, and for, the Royal Navy and celebrity guests.
Having turned sixty seven, i've now retired, I was (for a while) Employed in both Electronics during the week and a Toastmaster at weekends, I'm afraid it wore me down a bit, but now
I'm retired and rested, 'I may take up the gauntlet' again and do a little Toastmaster work here and there.
I'm retired and rested, 'I may take up the gauntlet' again and do a little Toastmaster work here and there.
Retirement
Now I've retired, I keep myself busy with a bit of Web Development, and am always upgrading my knowledge, thanks to online tutorials like The New Boston. (thanks Bucky).
The New Boston
I've developed several Websites but have never charged a penny for this, perhaps its time I did! One of my sites I spend plenty of time on is www.hmsrelentless.co.uk one of my old Ships (See other section), I decided to get an Association up and running. Sadly I can no longer play Golf, thanks to a weak back and tired legs.
The New Boston
I've developed several Websites but have never charged a penny for this, perhaps its time I did! One of my sites I spend plenty of time on is www.hmsrelentless.co.uk one of my old Ships (See other section), I decided to get an Association up and running. Sadly I can no longer play Golf, thanks to a weak back and tired legs.
So apart from short walks and shopping, the computer keeps me pretty busy these days.
No comments:
Post a Comment