OPENING 'P' BLOCK 1981

(Thanks Conrad Shail)

DUKE OF KENT UMBRELLA BEARERS 1981.

The umbrella bearers for the 1981 visit of the Duke of Kent for the opening of the then
new 'P' block consisted of Mechanical (Craft) and Electronic Apprentices.
The Apprentices are from the 1980 intake and are all wearing rather fetching outfits
supplied by the main stores at North site.

They are from left to right:
Name unknown nickname Parrot (Mechanical)
Martin Wedd (Electronic)
Conrad Shail (Electronic)
Name unknown (Mechanical)
Graham Thomas (Taffy. Now there's a surprise boyo!)
John McCleod (The old man of the year at 18)

It was (as you would guess) a wet day.
We were selected out of about 20 apprentices for this task.
I will find out the names of the mechanical apprentices in the picture and let you know.

I think Parrot is sadly now no longer with us.

The last years of the apprenticeships are probably the forgotten years, the old ways
were on the way out and the YOP and YTS schemes were to be in within a couple of years.
It was the new decade by the end of which the apprentice would be no more.

Apprentices still stayed in the hostel (now apartments) and came from all over the country.
We spent two years in the training centre, then two furthers years in the blocks whilst
attending college at Worcester for ONC and HNC.
Most of us finished with a Job at the end (myself included).
Its hard to believe that this was over twenty years ago and in comparison we were the
new boys (Girls were to come later) I saw the first one arrive.


Photos or stuff like this will be welcome. Please email it in jpg, gif or similar format.