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Where Are They Now?
I am trying to contact a Tony Ross who was an Austin Ex-Apprentice. Tony was a served his time at ‘The Austin’ and his father had a garage in Surrey. I believe that there was a strong Egyptian connection and that there were several Egyptian apprentices at that time. I understand Austin cars were exported to Cairo. Tony would have joined in about 1947.
Tony would now be about eighty. During the war I believe he rebodied a 14/40 Lea Francis heavy saloon with an aluminium body. I think that this was made from aircraft salvage. My father bought the car in 1956 and I have recently restored it. I am very keen to obtain its history. I would be most grateful for any help that you can offer.
Many thanks,
Peter Whitestone
Applehurst
Lowbands
Redmarley d'Abitot
Gloucestershire
GL19 3NF
01452 840587
Applehurst@aol.com
A photograph of the car taken at Prescott in August 2008
(If Tony is still with us he is not on the Association mailing list. Please let Tony Osborne know his contact details if you have them. Thanks).
If you would like to contact long lost friends, just let us know and we can include an appeal in the newsletter. |
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Herbert (Bert) Lewis Hadley (1927-1931)
Geoff Roe of the Pre-War Austin Seven Club is collecting material for a book on the life and times of ‘Bert’ Hadley. HLH spent his final year of training in the Experimental/Racing Department. One year later he was working alongside Tom Murray Jamieson, the young gifted designer brought in by Sir Herbert Austin to produce MG beating racing cars. By 1939 Hadley was running the racing programme and was their leading driver, obviously destined for greater glory. Hitler put paid to further progress. Thwarted from becoming a fighter pilot, Hadley was in a reserved occupation until 1941, at Lord Austin’s personal recommendation Hadley became a civil servant with the Ministry of Labour and National Service. He was to remain with the Ministry, and its successors, until retirement in 1975. However, his contacts ensured that he continued a motor racing career from 1950 to 1955, driving internationally for Jaguar, Healey, Jowett and Triumph works teams.
Geoff was lucky enough to have knows Bert in his later life and following the early death of his son, Clive in 2007, now has access to the family achieves. However if any of you have any memories, anecdotes or other information regarding H L Hadley, Geoff would love to hear from you. He would also like to hear anything about the Experimental/Racing Department personnel during the 1930’s including Alf Depper (Foreman), Len Brocas (Chief Mechanic), R A L Appleby (1915-1921), Bill ‘Wizard’ Rogers and Jimmy Simpson who was Hadley’s regular trailing co-driver. Not all may have been apprenticed at ‘The Austin’, of course.
To contact Geoff please write to him and he will acknowledge all contributions. Please write to G C Roe, 10, Marshall Road, Cropwell Bishop, Nottingham, NG12 3DP.
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Landcrab Find
The World Cup Rally Landcrab Reg No NOB 284F driven by an all Women crew and called the "Beauty Box" has been re-discovered in the UK. It has been undergoing a long restoration and it is hoped that it will be back on the road very soon.
The car is also important as it is one of the very early production Mk2 cars (the 6th off the line) that were used as press cars based at Longbridge before it was handed over to "Special Tuning" to be modified into a rally car.
The Beauty Box crewed by Jean Denton, Pat Wright and Liz Crellin started the 16,000 mile long World Cup Rally at Wembley on the 19th April 1970 and finished in Mexico on the 17th May in 18th place, they were second in the Coupe des Dames and also second in the team award with two other 1800's, If 18th sounds a little low in the results then it should be noted that there were 106 starters, but only 23 cars made the finish in Mexico.
Just to finish such a long rally is a major achievement for the crew and given the severity of the event it is remarkable that any of the cars should have survived and still be around 38 years later!!
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Memories of an Austin Ex-apprentice and Former Skiffle Artist!
Tony Ball MBE, President Austin Ex-apprentices Association, archive picture BMIHT
Throughout the year many Austin Ex-apprentices gather together over a glass or three in nostalgic memory of the great days we shared together in the prime of our lives at Longbridge.
During the soggy 2008 season, my own summer was certainly made when, right out of the blue, dear Paul Fox, that stalwart of Longbridge and legend of the Lickeys, sent me a totally unexpected present from the past. It was a specially updated CD, taken from the original recording made at Longbridge way back in the 1950’s by our very own Austin Apprentices Skiffle Group – ‘The FIVE SHMOES’. The SHMOES were renowned for performing to great acclaim, regularly at the Shoulder of Mutton, Bromsgrove, - ‘live’ at the Aston Hippodrome and even on stage at the Bristol Cinema, - where reports of knicker throwing by the young lady ‘hand jivers’ in the audience at the time, sadly were somewhat exaggerated but welcomed nevertheless!
The Five Shmoes on their famous Lands End to John O’Groats adventure.
A fresh-faced Tony Ball is second from the left.
The reworked CD featured, of course, our old Longbridge mates John Yeal (washboard), Sandy Baird (guitar), Derek Ross (lead guitar), Bill Gibbs (tea chest bass) and yours truly playing my old ‘three CHORD trick’, with broken string and equally broken voice.
Not all Austin Ex-apprentices had the fun of ever hearing the ‘Shmoes’ in full cry, but if you did, you will probably remember that we almost entered the Guinness Book of Records by the five of us, complete with musical instruments, in an Austin Westminster supplied by Jim Penrose from the factory, driving from Lands End to John-O’Groats TWICE in 48 hours!
We became the first, and only, skiffle group ever to perform this feat in such style by road, playing from one end of the country to the other. An Austin feat never beaten - or repeated! Rumour still has it that Bill Gibbs actually signed his autograph on the back of a sheep in Wick!
Happy days!
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An Ex-Apprentice’s Memories of the 1962 BMC Apprentices’ Continental Tour
A few of us, from the sixties’ era, occasionally meet for a beer and a meal. We generally chew over the present state of the world and how awful it is, especially the recent events at Longbridge. We then of course start to reminisce about our time at the “Orstin.” Initiated by Barry Walker, (’59 - ’64), these have now developed into regular informal monthly meetings. Sadly Barry died suddenly in February this year.
As you can imagine, the conversations twist and turn into many topics usually with a motoring theme. Never incidentally about “Formula 1”, but more likely the topic is the future of Shelsley Walsh or the AAA’s Car Club events in the 1960’s on North Works Car Park, and the fact that if you fitted a Riley 1.5 back axle and diff into a Morris Minor it almost eliminated axle tramp on tight turns with the power on. Not that we could ever be accused of being petrol heads – perish the thought!
In an attempt to change the conversation, I happened to mention that I had recently come across my Handbook for the BMC Apprentices Continental Tour, which was issued to each member of the “selected party”, and if this was of interest I’d be happy to pass this on to the Ex AAA’s Archive. I should by now have learnt to keep quiet, because within a very short time I found I had volunteered to write an article for the Newsletter on my memories of the Tour.
So roll back the clock to the morning of Friday, 29th June 1962, when “a selected party of 20 Apprentices representing the British Motor Corporation” with two leaders, (Foremen from Morris Motors), assembled at the Exhibition Hall for an official send off by the BMC Director of Education and Training and various honoured guests and a formal lunch. We boarded our two “J Series” 12 seater, “mini-buses” and set off to Harwich and the overnight ferry to the Hook of Holland to begin our 15-day “BMC Apprentices Continental Tour”.
This was a journey of over 1000 miles through the Netherlands from the Hook of Holland, down through West Germany as it then was, to Cologne, before turning west to Brussels to return via Ostend for the ferry to Dover and back to Longbridge. We spent a week in Holland, based in The Hague followed by a week based just outside Cologne with a night in Brussels en route back to Ostend.
Questions:-
1.How long had this tour been running? I don’t remember. I think we were the second or maybe the third such Tour?
1962 Tour Handbook
2. How long was this annual event continued? Again I don’t remember. It certainly can’t have been much longer than two or three years, since the BMC became British Leyland in 1968, and don’t believe it was continued after the new Lord Stokes regime came into being. Perhaps there are others with reminisces of other tours? Let me know via the editor please.
3. How were apprentices selected to go on the tour? Again, I don’t remember the criteria, other than having kept ones nose clean, (officially that is). I was very much involved, like so many others at this time, with the many activities of The Apprentices Association. This was over 400 strong at the time, with an intake of 90 or so new apprentices every year. I was Secretary of the Association in 1963 – 64, so maybe these were the reasons. However Barry Walker thought that it was more likely it was because I knew George Holland’s daughter quite well. Perhaps his memory was better than mine! (For those slightly younger Ex AA’s George Holland was the Apprentice and Training Superintendent at Longbridge during the late fifties and sixties.
4. The party of 22 consisted of seven apprentices from Longbridge, four from Fisher & Ludlow, one from MG Car Co Ltd., and eight from various Morris Motors’ Branches. The two leaders were also from Morris Motors. Nominated apprentices did the driving and navigation throughout the tour.
My passport for this period tells me that I registered £20.00 to take with me. It stated my profession was “Engineering Apprentice”, my age was 19 and that I had been re-vaccinated against small pox by Dr R H R Aston, the Longbridge Medical Officer!
So, what were my memories of this tour? What really sticks in my mind after all this time? Was it the tours of the Royal Dutch steel works at Ijmuiden or the Royal Dutch Glass Works at Leedam or the Unilever margarine factory at Rotterdam or perhaps even the Esso Oil Refinery at Cologne? No, I guess not.
Was it perhaps the visit to see the reclamation of land from the Zuider Zee or to watch an evening performance of “Tosca”, (sung in German), at the recently opened new Cologne Opera House. No, I have to admit, not really?
On reflection it is quite interesting what one does stick in one’s mind from such a fascinating trip made over 45 years ago. It is mainly little detailed events rather than the bigger experiences. I do remember the over whelming generosity and hospitality of our Dutch hosts, R S Stokvis & Zonen NV and all the many Dutch people we met out and about. It was a surprise to realize that we were inheriting an attitude created by my father’s generation during and immediately after WW II.
We stayed in an old hotel in The Hague for the first week. Nearby is the seaside resort of Scheveningen, a word which is extremely difficult to pronounce, so much so that this was used by the Dutch during the War as a test of whether a stranger was Dutch or not, since only “real Dutch people” could properly pronounce the word. I never managed to pronounce it correctly and pass the test, despite intensive coaching from my new Dutch friends.
Whilst two of us were sitting in a bar one evening in the Hague , watching American TV with Dutch sub-titles, we met two attractive Dutch girls who “wanted to practice their English”. After a few more beers, they suggested that we might like to visit somewhere else. “Yes, sure, but where is it and how do we get there?” “Well we have our bicycles outside and we will take you!” was the immediate reply. So off we set, George Bartle and I sitting sideways on the pannier racks on the back. Each time we came to a hump backed bridge over a canal, etiquette demanded that we jump off and run over the bridge and jump on again the other side. Later that same night I remember trying to play Dutch Billiards when I realized that the table had no pockets! Needless to say we behaved like perfect gentlemen and were duly returned, on our bicycles, safely back to our hotel in the early hours of the morning. One of the ten Rules contained in the Tour Handbook was, “Members are expected to conduct themselves as responsible young men and apply common sense to any situation that might arise.” I believe George and I adopted this commandment to the letter!
Present day Cologne
What was memorable was the visit to the War Cemetery at Arnhem. This contains the 1,500 graves of those who had died during the epic battle for the famous bridge over the Rhine in September 1944. The realization that the age of the majority of those buried here was exactly the same as ours at the time was particularly poignant.
The day trip on a Rhine River Cruiser from Cologne, 90 kms up stream to Andernach, does stick in my mind. The river south towards Koblenz, runs mainly through deep gorges and vineyard covered hills. This is Moselle country, famed for its fine wines. Cologne Cathedral was very impressive. (See photo of modern day Cologne). My lasting memory of this great gothic Cathedral was that it had somehow survived the rigours of the war. It was the only significant building left standing in the central area of the city. I also remember foreign tourists inside the Cathedral climbing onto statues and pews in order to get better photographs of the stunning interior and windows. I will not mention their nationality!
One evening whilst enjoying a live “umpah band” in a Bier Kellar in Cologne, I spotted an attractive young lady across the room. All the men seemed to be on one side of the room, with all the ladies on the other side. As the first chord was struck by the band there was a mad dash across the Kellar to “capture your chosen partner”. So, having persuaded our guide to teach me how to say “Would you like to dance, Fraulein?” in polite German, I crossed the floor of the Bier Kellar on the first blast of the euphonium, and asked her in my best schoolboy German, if she would like to dance. She replied in loud Americanese, “Why, sure honey, I’d lurrve to”. Thereafter we conversed in English for which I was complimented. I didn’t admit that I was British.
On our second day in Germany, a Sunday, we were taken to the famous, (infamous?), Nurburgring, to watch the final stages of a 12 hour endurance race.
Arnhem CWG Cemetery
A section of “The Ring” today
After the race had ended and the presentations made, the circuit was opened to the public. A few of us were taken on a drive round the circuit in an A99 Westminster by our host. Being driven round the “Ring”, 22.8 kms long, weaving in and out of the forests with precipitous drops down the sides of the Eiffel plateau with its nearly 100 bends, certainly gave us a memorable experience. It certainly graphically explained why Jackie Stewart later called the old Ring circuit “The Green Hell”. I do remember two scarlet Porsche 1600’s screaming past our somewhat ungainly Westminster at one point, only later to overtake one of them parked by a jagged, gaping hole in the hedge on the edge of the circuit. The other one had disappeared over the edge to the depths below. The only Armco barriers I remember seeing were those around the top edge of the “Karussell”. Incidentally, for those F1 buffs amongst you, Graham Hill won the 1962 German GP at this circuit just a few weeks later, in a BRM, taking 2 hours and 39 minutes. The fastest lap was just over ten minutes. A far cry from today’s F1 circuits!
All in all it was a fabulous trip. Each day was filled with extremely well organized special excursions, luncheons and dinners to provide us all with a really good insight into the industrial and cultural differences and similarities of our nearest neighbours on mainland Europe. In hindsight I was extremely lucky to have been part of this Tour. I shudder to think what it cost!
In the Foreword to the 1962 Tour Handbook, the BMC Director of Training and Education, Mr J Wilson, writes,
“This Tour has been planned to enable you to get a glimpse of industry on the Continent. It may well happen very soon, we in this country will be closely associated with Europe. This merely stresses the importance of an occasion such as this to make the most of your opportunities and to get to know as much as possible. It should prove a stimulating and rewarding experience.”
It certainly achieved these aims as far as I was concerned. Could Mr Wilson envisage, in 1962, that one day Longbridge would be owned by BMW and that the UK would “be closely associated with Europe”.
Bob Foster (’59 – ’64) e-mail: Bob@healthandsafetyservices.co.uk
Did you go on an Apprentices Continental Tour? If so, let us know your memories.
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Bill Reaches 60 Year Milestone as an Ex-Apprentice
On Friday 19 September 2008 a private room at Kings Norton (Roger Ottley's) Golf Club was the fine venue for your Committee to present BILL MANNING with an inscribed crystal tankard in recognition of his support to the Association for over forty years. This long period of service to AEAA included a spell as Vice Chairman alongside his close ex-Apprentice / ex-REME pal, Len Berrington. Sadly the occasion was slightly overshadowed by Len's death just a few days previously.
It was in the dark days of 1939, while Hitler was launching his evil deeds across Europe, that a 14 year old Bill Manning shyly entered Longbridge. His formal Apprenticeship started some two years later and was broken by Army service in Egypt and Palestine. The worldly man Bill returned home in 1948 - only to have to complete the final year to qualify for his Indentures.
Vice Chairman Jon Nightingale does a brief 'This is Your Life' on Bill, before presenting him with his etched glass tankard in recognition of his 40 Year contribution to our Association. Wife Eileen looks on.
Amazingly, Bill has been an Ex-Apprentice for over 60 years! He retired from Longbridge in 1987 after a span of 48 years, (Plenty of material for a book there - any willing journalists out there?) and became known and highly respected as 'Mr Pattern Shop'.
Bill responded to the presentation by treating his assembled Committee colleagues to some delightful old-Longbridge anecdotes, including his 'party-piece'. Soon after joining the Company his foreman told him to report to the 'Old Man's' office, but didn't say why! So it was that Bill, quaking in his boots, approached Lord Austin's fearsome personal secretary, Bobby Howitt, in the outer office. He still didn't know why he had been summoned. Eventually, Bill was told to go in to see the 'Old Man', who was much less challenging than Bobby had been, and explained that he simply wanted a wooden wedge to hold open his office door !! The order was completed with very special extra care, using every ounce of Bill's then woodworking skills - which developed to high levels over the years. A nice tale from a great bloke, whom we look forward to meeting at the 75th Dinner and many more occasions beyond.
Members of the Association Committee with Bill and Eileen as 'Guests of Honour'
Jon Nightingale
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Ivor Goes 'Off Piste'
Whilst ski-ing recently in Canada, Ivor suffered a nasty fall and in his own words;
‘broke my back (T6 vertebra multi-fracture), fractured collar bone plus 4 cracked ribs. Lucky no neurological damage. 6 hours later in Vancouver General Spinal Unit. Now ‘Bionic Titanium Man’! Marvellous!!! I now have a device linking T5-6-7 titanium screws/clamps & nylon torsional / tension springs and polyurethane compression springs! Clever! Problem was I suffered Aspirated Pneumonia on operating table and ended up in Intensive Care Unit for 6 days, mostly unconscious and on a ventilator machine’.
Ivor was supported by friends and family who travelled from the UK, Guernsey and even Australia to be at his bedside.
Quite a few people have been enquiring how Ivor’s getting on and he wants to pass on his thanks to all those asking after him. He is recovering well (as he’s back flying) and considers himself to be extremely fortunate to be walking and frankly to still be alive!
The tale from the Leicester Mercury is attached below.
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Calling All Post WWII Ex-Apprentices!
In May 1946 a press release went out which said the following.
'The Austin Ex-Apprentice Association is now being reformed. Would all Ex-Apprentices please contact Hon Secretary Mr H. Blackburn c/o Austin Motor Company giving the following information, regarding present address and employment, together with details of War Service'
Did you respond to this request and are still a member of the Austin Ex-Apprentice Association? If so please contact John Baker at Austin Memories
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Four Apprentices Drive for 100 hours!
Back in 1962 four Austin Apprentices drove an A40 Countryman on a 100-hour endurance test in the Highlands, covering 3,392 miles at over 30 MPG a first-rate all round performance particularly in view of the fact that some of the roads were as rough as those seen below.
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Going Underground Longbridge
One of the areas of intrigue at Longbridge has, for years, been the underground tunnels. Most of these date back to the Second World War. If you are interested in learning more about them and other associated subjects, then you need to obtain a copy of ‘The Bulletin’, April 2007 issue, published by Subterranea Britannica.
Neil Wedgbury, an Austin Ex-Apprentice who spent his working life at ‘The Austin’ has written this article, which took 2.5 years of research and occupies 32 pages of the 42 page publication and includes 36 photographs (8 in colour) and 11 maps and drawings. To obtain your copy, and there is only a limited supply, in the first instance contact Neil by e-mail at neil.wedgbury@homecall.co.uk. Or phone 01527-892282.
The Cost is £4 collected, £5 including p&p
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Where are you all now? Calling all Apprentices from the Late 1970’s
I was an apprentice at Longbridge from September 1973 to 1977 along with 38 others; we had the best engineering training and generally had a great time with the banter, silly antics and general youthful fun. There were also 7 apprentices from the previous year, 76 the year after and over 120 the following year.
Our year was the last intake into the old training workshops in North works where we all did our first year basic training, these buildings were demolished to make way for the new ‘O’ series engine plant and we all had a new home in a purpose built training centre built on our football pitch.
So where are you all now, I have been going to the annual reunion dinner for over 10 years now, but have only seen a handful of the old mates mentioned above.
We had so many great times and it would be really nice to see you again to remember those days when we went to the club house discos, drove to college in Desmond the minibus, the instructors - Colin Hutchby, John Rose, John Bellamy, Colin ?????? , Gordon Sparks, Paul Cornish.
So come on Adrian Lowe, Tony Dawson, Terry Lavell, Garry Stokes, Jeff Clifford, Roy Inman, Garry Inman, Steve Hall, Dave Lumley, Jerry Phelps, Steve Stride, I can’t remember all the names so please spread the word, come to the next dinner and make this year our year, we can all sit together and reminisce about the old days at Longbridge, Its always the first Saturday In December at the Raven Hotel in Droitwich, the Association needs to thrive as its all that’s left of Longbridge and you are the future.
Rob Lewis
1973 – 1977 and proud of it!
lewisfamily@freenet.co.uk
07720 557182
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Austin Ex-Apprentice Club House but When and Who?
Take a close look at the photo below. Do you recognise any of these Austin Ex-Apprentices? Is one of them you? If so we'd be interested to find out and when the picture may have been taken.
Thanks go to Chris Smart ('59-'63) who has picked out Tony Ham ('52-'57) left end of bar seated and Tony Ball ('51-'56) in front of him seated with back to Tony Ham. From this it suggests the photo was taken early to mid 1950's. If either Tony is reading this, do you recognise anyone else? If so let us know here at the Association by contacting us at AustinExApps@aol.com
A larger (wall size) version of this picture is on display as part of the Longbridge Exhibition at the Gaydon Heritage Motor Centre.
John Stubbs (1956-60) has identified three more. The ping-pong player on the left is Bob Newbold (1956-60). Playing Chess and sitting on the left is Graham Thompson (1953-58) and according to the eagle-eyed Stubbs the rear-view of the man reaching into his pocket, seated at the bar is Cameron Mann (1957-61) taken from his best angle. Well done John.
There are eight other faces plus bar staff so can anyone else add to the information we have ?
Judging by the Apprentices identified so far the photo was probably taken in 1957, and Tony Ball was an ex-apprentice.
From Jon Nightingale;
CHESS - 'Trinny' Fernaner (from Ceylon now Sri Lanka) is playing Graham Thompson.
COUNTER - (Behind) Tony Ball has Stan Yeal (1919-22) (Apprentice Supervisor) on his left and Tony Ham on right
COUNTER - (Front ) With Cameron is the late Ken Halley (1953-57) (Glasgow) and Brian Stembridge (1952-58 ) (B'ham).
Maybe , the person talking to Tony Ball & Stan Yeal is the late John Shirley-Priest.
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Inaugural Meeting of the Metro Owner's Club
Text and pictures Tony Osborne
St John the Baptist Church, home of Revd ‘Allegro’ Colin Corke and location for the Austin Federation’s meetings, was also the scene of the inaugural meeting of the Metro Owners Club held on the 1 February 2009. An impressive line-up of thirty-six cars collected in the car park outside the Church Hall. They included Metros of all types – from Austin mini-Metros, MG Metros, and Rover Metros to the final incarnation of the Rover 100.
The Metro / Rover 100 is one of the last cars to have an owners club. Many of the later Rovers already have a club, or are encompassed in the MG Car Clubs. Now the Metro has caught up. The day was a success among those who attended, though some of the new membership feel the Club needs support in moving from the internet towards a body with a regular newsletter which could perhaps reach a wider audience.
If you have a cherished Metro and are interested in joining, you can contact the new club via the internet at www.metroownersclub.org Membership costs £10 at present.
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Note from Ron Rabone
Apprentice at Austin Motor Co, Longbridge, Birmingham (1968 – 73)
Lived in Northfield for 20 years.
Currently living in Melbourne, Australia (since 1988).
Diploma in Production Engineering at Bromsgrove College (1968 – 73)
Worked as a Production Engineer (CAB 1 & 2) 1973 – 74 and again 1976 – 82 mainly on Mini, Allegro, Marina and Mini Metro.
I'm now at that age (57) where one likes to re-unite with old friends etc and with email everything is so much easier especially now I’m living in Australia.
I must admit that I still look on my days at Longbridge as some of the best in my life. Why did I leave - well I believed the grass was greener on the other side - well at least the weather was.
I do often wonder what happened to all my apprentice friends from Longbridge, so I did a web search and ended up registering with the Austin Ex apprentices Association. I would like to hear from any Ex Austin Apprentices, especially those who’s Apprenticeships were similar dates to mine. My email address is:-
ronrabone@yahoo.com.au
Most of my working life has been in Production Engineering working at automotive companies such as Austin Motor Co (later know as British Leyland, then Austin Rover), Toyota South Africa, Peugeot, Nissan Australia and Iveco Trucks to name a few. Over the last 16 years I have been doing engineering contract work.
I left England in 1974 and went to Johannesburg, South Africa for 2 years working in the Tobacco Industry. Then back to England, got married and went back to work at the Austin for a second time. Five years later with 2 kids I was offered a job with Toyota in Durban, South Africa. This was during the Michael Edwards 3.8% wage increase crisis when the workforce went on strike for months. These were bad times for Longbridge and influenced my decision to go back to South Africa which at that time the automotive industry was booming.
However my Ex Wife did not like South Africa, so after 5 years it was back to England for 2 years (worked at Peugeot, Ryton) until we immigrated to Australia in 1988 and here I am now, divorced with 2 more kids and living in a de-facto relationship in Melbourne.
My kids are ages 30, 28, 9 & 8 (girl, boy, girl & boy).
My main interest apart from my family is surf lifesaving. Historically I started off boxing for the Austin Boxing Club at Longbridge and progressed into coaching. At 30 I took up distance running and ran over 50 half marathons and marathons. Then at 40 I took up surf lifesaving when my knees started to giving trouble around 1992 after my running schedule of 60 to 100km per week finally got the better of me. I did however continue running at a much lower schedule of 20 to 30km per week and competed in triathlons and aquathons (run & swim) with shorter runs of around 5km. In 2001 I had arthroscopy knee surgery (lateral release) believing it would eliminate my knee problem. I have never run since and surgery has left me with many complications such as muscle wasting, loss of leg strength, permanent pain, iliotibial band syndrome and degeneration that after eight years leaves me close to requiring a knee replacement.
I now mainly swim 2 to 3km per day and board train whenever possible during summer.
I complete in individual swim and board races, however my main event is the Iron Man (see explanation below). After knee surgery I have to lie down on the Surf Rescue Board and the runs are very short on soft sand which I can cope with.
The Iron Man event in Australian Surf Lifesaving is an endurance race (about 20 mins duration) consisting of three different events all being raced one after the other similar to a Triathlon. The three events or disciplines are Surf Rescue Board (left on picture), Swim and then Surf Ski (right on picture) with a short run and wade in between. Unlike a triathlon where the format is always swim, cycle then run, the Iron Man format changes as the order of events are drawn from a hat on the day of the event. |
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