Soon after I started at Sheffield, Nancy came over and we bought a house in Hurlfield Avenue in an afternoon. It was not a very good choice as the kitchen was minute, but otherwise it was quite a nice house in a quiet street on the southern edge of town, close to the Derbyshire border.
We were young and green in such matters and at the land agent’s suggestion agreed to use the same solicitor as the vendor. Consequently, we did not stipulate a date for vacant possession. This led to delays and frustration but we eventually moved about late January 1956.
Moving day dawned cold and foggy. After the removal van was loaded, Nancy, Mam and baby Ruth got in with the furniture and I set off in the car. It was a nightmare ride through the fog; somewhere near Rotherham I went twice round a roundabout. Unknown to me the furniture van driver had seen me do this and on arrival at the new house had told Nancy of it. The last two or three miles to the new house involved climbing a hill and as I neared the house the fog in the valley was left behind and I arrived, in brilliant sunshine, soon after the furniture van. I put the car in the garage and there it stayed until I passed my driving test a month or two later.
My first job in Sheffield was to arrange the installation of metering to measure the maximum demand of many industrial consumers. Hitherto they had only been charged for the amount of electricity used so that a consumer who used, say, 10 units per day in the space of an hour paid the same as a consumer who used 10 units spread over several hours. The Board has to provide plant and distribution equipment to meet maximum demand so it was in the Board's interest to keep down maximum demand.
I travelled all over the city by bus to visit industrial premises and decide how to treat each affected consumer. A group of men in the workshop then made up panels carrying the new equipment and I would arrange a time for the work to be done on the premises. Most firms were reluctant to have the work done in normal working hours as it involved an interruption to supply, so much of the work was done at weekends. I did not do the installation but had to turn out to check that it was done correctly. Time off during the week could be taken to compensate for work done at the weekend.
Soon after the move to Sheffield I passed the driving test and in the spring we went in the car to Bangor, passing on the way the fairly new radio telescope at Jodrell Bank. The car played up on the journey and after our return we sold it at an auction for thirty pounds. It had been an expensive lesson and we did not have another car until 1961.
Soon an opportunity for promotion occurred, and although there were several candidates I was the man chosen. I knew this by lunchtime on the day of the interview and so was able to go home and give Nancy the glad news. We bought a hand-operated sewing machine as a result of the rise in pay, which I think was at least 15%.
My new job was in what is known as "protection". This word describes the means by which any part of the electrical network that has incurred a fault is automatically disconnected from the network. The experience I had gained in testing at Keadby undoubtedly helped me at the interview. I also learned the techniques for pin-pointing faults on underground cables and later in my career I did many successful fault locations.
During my time at Sheffield I was given one afternoon per week to go to the Rotherham Technical College, which I also attended for two evenings per week, to study mathematics and physics. Passing exams in these subjects enabled me to become a Graduate of the Institute of Electrical Engineers.
From Sheffield we made one or two day trips by rail to Brigg. On one occasion we went to the White Horse pub; the landlord, Cyril Young, looked at Ruth and said “She won’t get lost in this town”, meaning she looked like a Turner.
MORE MEMORIES TO COME FROM CLIFF ON BRIGG BLOG
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