Born on Good Friday, April 7th 1939, in Wallasey, Cheshire, my family moved after the 2nd World War in 1945 to Blackpool and owned a hotel at 288 North Promenade. Prior to attending BGS, I went to Claremont School. At 11 years old, I initially went into class 1C (the lowest level of the 1st Form, since there were also 1A, and 1B - for the smarter kids?). I remember the classroom being on the furthest north side of the Raikes Parade BGS and my first teacher was Ernie Harrison, who had a good sense of humor (note my spelling will be in "American" English). Probably because I did OK in some exam, I was able to move up to 2A in my second year and continued in 3A, 4A, & 5A. I left at 16 years old after passing five subjects in my GCE and soon after found an exciting research job at Sellafield, Cumberland, working for the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).
Well, what other impressions do I remember from those BGS days? I liked the uniform of the black and blue striped blazers, although I was glad we were not required to wear the cap. The badge with the seagull on the wavy lines with a windmill on top was well-liked. The gathering in the center school hall and the singing of the Gilbert & Sullivan, "Pirates of Penzance" school song was something that grew on you. The amazing, macho, wrestler-looking, Bill Breeze, leading the singing, almost conteracted the slight embarrassment of the younger students with their shrill unbroken voices having to sing the women's lines, while the older students' gruffer voices filled in the male chorus in the background.
In the 50's, I was an avid soccer fan - after all, it was probably the best team the town ever had. It won the FA Cup in 1953 (coronation year of Queen Elizabeth). In 1955, the team finished 2nd to the great Manchester United team in the top division (Division 1 before the "Premier"). A dream international forward line of Sir Stanley Matthews, Ernie Taylor, Stan Mortensen (later Jackie Mudie), Allan Brown, and Bill Perry. Goalkeeper George Farm, and captain, Harry Johnston were outstanding too. I never was that keen on the school's rugby team and regarded it as a snob's school sport. Some of my friends and classmates would form our own football teams and play matches at the weekends and pick-up games on the beach (the sands). After school, I played on local soccer teams at Stanley Park or on fields at the back of Squires Gate airport.
At 16, having decided to leave school and find a job, a certain wanderlust took me 100 miles north to the coast of Cumberland (now Cumbria). Those days seemed interesting at UKAEA (nicknamed "Ukalele") as it was soon after in 1957 that the Queen opened the adjacent Calder Hall nuclear power station, which was one of the world's first applications of generating and supplying electricity to the national grid. I bought a motorcycle for means of transport (first a Triumph Thunderbird 650cc and later, a Triumph Speed Twin, - I even added a sidecar). During those teenage years, I continued my education by attending Whitehaven and Workington Technical Colleges, going to classes for five years, four evenings and one day off work, each week. I would drive home to Blackpool at weekends. At 20, I married a girl from Whitehaven and transferred my work to the UKAEA plant at Salwick. I continued my education at Blackpool Technical College and obtained an ONC and HNC in Electrical/Electronics Engineering which was later recognized as equivalent to a University degree by my chosen career in aviation engineering. Soon after returning to Blackpool, I found a job as an electrical systems designer at Warton which was then English Electric and very quickly became British Aircraft Corp and now British Aerospace. At 27, with three young kids I left in April 1966 for the US to take a design engineer's job at Boeing, Seattle. Two years later, massive layoffs began (70,000 of the 106,000) and I moved down to Los Angeles where I became an engineer working for Continental Airlines and five years later, moved to New Zealand to work for Air New Zealand. After another five years, I returned to Boeing in Seattle, where I still work after 22 years, now as a Manager of Engineering in Customer Support for the 747, 767 and 777 airplanes.
I still at heart consider myself a Blackpudlian and often return for a visit. My daughter, Carol, lives in Thornton Cleveleys and I have two sisters who live near Preston. I looked with interest at that 1951 BGS photograph, and I can see myself sitting legs crossed in the middle on the front row to the right of Neil Hodgson. Slightly behind me and two to the left is Nigel Yates, who I later came across at Victoria Hospital as a surgeon - he always was the smartest kid in the class! I also recognise Gordon Hughes, Brian Howe, Allan Gregson, and Ron Batty, plus many I can't put a name to. I would really be happy to hear from anyone from this era.
Home Address:
12728 42nd Ave NE,
Seattle
WA 98125,
USA.
Home Phone: (425) 361-1536.
My e-mail address is Peter Ansdell
Site Maintained by:- Website Prefect