After about a week a pretty usherette approached me and asked was I the new person working with Fred
I was not looking forward to working in the cinema industry. Convinced I had done the right thing by changing to a new environment, I agreed to work temporarily for Mr Millar who owned the Rex Cinema; going into the projection room was like slipping into very familiar surroundings. I thought to myself here we go again.
The senior projectionist was a very amiable young man like me who had not long been demobbed from the army, so we had a lot in common. His name was Fred Gallon. Fred suggested we have a break around seven or eight o’clock in the evening, and if I wanted to go and watch the show from a comfortable seat in the circle, which I did.
After about a week a pretty usherette approached me and asked was I the new person working with Fred. From then on never a day passed without me seeing her; I was smitten. After months together I gradually grew to appreciate her and wanted to be with her. I knew in my heart I loved her. Not long after I married my one and only girlfriend: Mary.
I stayed at the cinema until I had a difference of opinion with the manager’s lady assistant, a Mrs Scott, who incidentally lived on the premises. Our differences could not be resolved which made my working there stressful, so I decided to resign. This ultimately was the end of the cinema for me.
I turned to the British Railway for a job and became a shunter. I stayed with British Rail for about three and a half to four years until there was a slight collision with wagons and an approaching train, which was partly my fault and it was then I decided I had enough and again I handed in my resignation.
Travelling had always been a problem while I worked on the railway even though I had a pass to get to and from work. I yearned to have a place of work nearer home; a good proposition would be to go and get a job at George Angus and Co Ltd. Which I did, and served there until I was made redundant after 25 years.