Rtn David Axon: That's entertainment

Our member David Axon gave today’s talk, which was entitled “That’s Entertainment (Part 1)”. Part 2 will be given by fellow members Keith Dabbs and Peter Kemp in two weeks’ time.

He took us back to 1966, when he was studying for a degree in Civil Engineering at The University of Manchester. Students were encouraged to take a relevant placement during the long summer holidays. David took a summer job with British Rail. When the day’s work finished at 17:30 he and some of his work colleagues would occasionally go from there to the station to catch the 18:00 train to London, which would arrive at about 20:30.

They would then make their way to Soho to visit one of the clubs there. On leaving the club later they would have a meal at a convenient Indian restaurant before catching the 00:30 sleeper back to Manchester. They did not book sleeper cabins but slept as well as they could on the seats.

The train deliberately travelled slowly back to Manchester, arriving there at 07:00. On leaving the train, David and his friends went to the local YMCA, where they would have breakfast and a shower. The UMCA was next to the British Rail building, so they were able to duly report for work at 08:30.