Overdue response
Mike,
Good to have made contact again.
It was following the notifcation of another post that I found this one for me. I guess that any earlier notification is lost in somewhere in digiland (sounds like somewhere in the north end of Liverpool), or 'the ether', perhaps.
Some other names from our year were Pete Graham (ED, Middlesborough), Henk ('Hank') Krouwel (Shell, Bristol) and Richard Gidman (Mobil, Liverpool). I've kept in touch with Richard since and, although it's always years between meetings, there also developed a connection with his family. When standing by, as a J/E in Liverpool, 300 miles from home and when all the local based crew were at home for the weekend, a phone call to his home would result in an invitation for Sunday lunch, around 4pm. He was always at sea, but there was always a warm welcome from his mum and dad.
I noted, in another Riversdale post, the mention of Teddy Tap. This was sold on to Dick Denning (ED, Dorset). I made, and then lost, contact with him some 6 or 7 years ago, at which time he was in Western Australia, having just retired from his own company. Dick was in the year ahead of us, along with 'Bronco' Lane, and, before starting his own business, had been engineer on a pearl fishing boat in the Pacific.
Also in River House, one of the Ph3 guys, by the name 'Ferdy' I believe and who was 2 or 3 years ahead of us, had a 2-cyl Bradford van (Jowett Motors). As ever with cars of that era, there always seemed to be more maintenance that motoring, or was it a case of oily fingers being cheaper than petrol?
My first car was a 1956 split screen Morris Minor Series 2, purchased from Ken Norman, who left our year in ED to join the RAF in Shrewsbury. (Before Ph3?) By then I was in digs in Alma Road, off Mersey Road, and we used to fit around 6 of us in for the short run around to Riversdale. Phil Robinson used to sit 'beween' the front seats and did the gear changes for me. The brakes were abysmal and it's amazing that we survived two crossings of Aigburth dual carriageway. I sold it some 4 months later (having run a big end bearing that I replaced, by the roadside, in the rain, in Shepton Mallet; the consequence of oil consumption of 50 miles to a pint). The advert was misplaced in the the 'Deaths' column of the Western Evening Herald and produced some 30 replies. Fortunately, the words 'Owner sailing Monday' didn't put them off.
There are a couple more names for you, Mike.
Look forward to meeting up again shortly.
With apologies to all for repeating anything from ealier posts.
Cheers,
Cornish
Hi Greg (Cornish)
I'm Mike Gardner and have just found this site. I remember the days at River House and Riversdale Tech well. John Waddell, Big Mac, Phil, Rod Turner who I did two trips with on the Donga. I then sailed on the Mamfe Apapa and Aureol before getting my seconds ticket and came ashore in 1970
I have remained good friends with Howie ( Howard W ) elder brother of Stasher ( Steve W) both of whom were Shell Apprentices.
I often wonder what happened to all the lads and how they got on in life.
It was me that got attacked in Blackpool.
I see John G has made a post . John was a Brockelbank Apprentice and we were work colleagues for many years before I retired in 2007.
Cheers
Mike
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image by Martin Perry, on Flickr
