Tasmania in the 70’s was primary school, years 1 through 6, High School was 7 through 10. That was me. Went into 4 years Apprenticeship in the Fitting and Machining Trade. Lasted 20 years in the Trade. 10 years in a underground Copper Mine on the West Coast of Tasmania.
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What was your underground experience like?I could never do that
Excellent Mr Bretwick!
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It certainly was not the best worksite.
Always raining outside meant it was always raining underground.
The water seeps through, no matter how deep down one is.
The West Coast of Tasmania receives over 2 1/2 metres/ 8 feet of rain a year.
Noisy with all the trucks/boggers/diamond drills/explosives.
Dark. Many times working only with a light affixed to the head.
Go down in the early morning dark, resurface in the early evening dark.
Tassie winters, dark at 4.30pm.
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I left school with virtually nothing, thanks to my atrocious home life. Since then and many years later, I pulled myself through college and university.
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There was a mining tragedy in Tasmania when I first arrived.
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Perhaps you won’t recall the Welsh mining disaster, Aberfan, in 1966? There were 116 children and 28 adults killed. It was the worst disaster I can recall.
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Ah, not so good then, Mr Bretrick. I been a lot of places including mines and that was not the most enjoyable of them.
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Of course I do.
I was working for the NCB at the time.And shamefully Wilson and Robens spent the money donated by people for the families on clearing the tip.
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:" SICKENING DANCE OF DECEIT
Government documents subsequently released under the 30 year rule exposed a sickening cynicism in the actions of NCB chief Robens and Wilson’s Labour government – through the auspices of Labour Minister of Power, Richard Marsh – in the wake of the damning Davies Inquiry. They danced a carefully choreographed deceit of the public, and in particular the grieving Aberfan villagers."
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Left secondary modern school when it was optional to stay on for another couple years. I couldn’t wait to get out of there so I left school at 15 and became an apprentice fitter and machinist in a small engineering establishment. After six years of training and day release to college, at 21 I became a skilled man with City and Guilds with credits and distinction.
I joined a diamond tooling company as a general machinist and toolmaker. I remained there for 22 years where I also took on most of the electrical work/repairs and installation. You could do that then…Electronics was my passion. After being made redundant when the company closed down I found work in the toolroom of a busy kitchen manufacturer, designing , sharpening and making tooling for the woodworking industry.
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My parents had some money, but not much, gave me a private education in a third rate (academically) school. Every day was boot camp, yes sir no sir, I left at 16 with a couple of O’levels, worked on the family farm. Two years later I got into agricultural college, dropped out after a year, moved to London to do something different, anything. Thirty years later I was running my own corporate entertainment consultancy. I retired at 50 odd to rent property in Portugal, but ill health brought me back to the UK.
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Good health is the key, without it, the certificates pale into insignificance.
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Electrical engineering then travelled the world.
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I think some of my lack of interest in exams and qualifications came as a result of being placed in a boys boarding school for a year at the age of 9. This was for heath reasons (very asthmatic). The ‘school’ was run by Nuns and I think they wanted all the boys to become priests. They were not interested in teaching maths, sciences or English. Only in kids being able to recite the Catechism. This was of paramount importance and there were penalties for getting it wrong. Anyway, a critical point in a child’s education I’d say. Always in the ‘A’ stream before going there. Put in ‘B’ on return and never got out of it.
Failed the 11+ and went to a Secondary Modern school where I took prizes in crafts and a general best achiever prize. I was made a defect …I mean a prefect 
Almost made the school cricket team but left to go to work before it could be brought about.
Did well in work but that’s too much of a continuation.
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A little more information. A colleague and went into business. He was some years older than I so I did most of the travelling. This included eight months in Taiwan where I got married and had children. Then she decided get divorced and that was that.
Then I re-married. That was year 2000 and remained so. This time it was from USA. And still I am British at the end of the day.
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