Rtn David Axon: My very first job

We started today’s meeting with a few moments’ silence in memory of our late Secretary and Past President Eddie Cassels, who died over the weekend.

Our speaker was our member David Axon, who actually spoke to us about his first three jobs.

The first was as a Sixth Former, when he obtained a temporary job working on the Christmas post for the Post Office in the bitterly cold winter of 1962-63. There were three basic tasks: collection, sorting and delivery. Sorting was the only indoors job and that was given to the permanent staff. As a temporary staff member David delivered post. It was difficult to keep warm but he found that he could not separate the letters with gloves on, so went without. He had to make sure he put the post in his sack in the right order for delivery, which required a good knowledge of the layout and numbering in the roads he delivered to. The sacks were not large enough for all the post to be delivered on a round. When his sack was empty David had to return to the sorting office to collect the remainder. The job ended on Christmas Eve.

His second paid job was three months working in the local cemetery one summer at a wage of 2/6d (12½p) per hour. It mainly involved keeping the grounds tidy.

Occasionally he would be asked to dig a grave, which paid an extra 6d (2½p) per hour. If the grave had not been used before this meant digging down ten feet. He told us how difficult it was to throw the soil so it landed outside the grave when you were ten feet down. Frequently the soil fell back on him and he would finish the day absolutely filthy and with his hair matted.

His first permanent job was in the Surveyors’ Department of Essex County Council, based in Chelmsford. He applied for that job because it was the best paid of those he looked at. He received a letter instructing him to report to the Chief Surveyor’s PA. When he arrived at the office the young lady on reception told him that the PA did not deal with graduates and that the task was delegated to someone else. David insisted on seeing the PA as that was what he had been instructed to do. She did eventually see him.

The receptionist, though, was not at all impressed with him. She thought he was arrogant and big headed. Obviously that first impression did not last as they have now been married for over fifty years!