When I got back to England (from Army service in Kenya), I had to stay in camp at Aldershot until the day of demob.  I spent about a week with Vera and then made my way to Huddersfield to meet Margaret for the first time.  For me, it was love at first sight - after writing so often, I felt I knew her anyway and her family were so welcoming.

It was good to see Peter again, although I think his marriage was starting to crumble.  I stayed with Margaret's family and went with them on their annual trip to Blackpool.  We had a good time at Blackpool.  It was a boarding house and, if you bought your own food for dinner, the landlady would cook it for you, so that is what the family did.  While there, I found out what a "ginnel" was, and enjoyed a Pablo's Whopper many times!

A day or so after we got back to Huddersfield, I reluctantly made my way back to Portsmouth, where I looked for work.  I stayed about two weeks without a job - they were getting difficult to find in that area.  When I spoke to Margaret on the phone, she said there were plenty of jobs up there so, after speaking to her family, it was agreed that I could stay with them again.  So I returned and started work at ICI, where she and her Dad worked.  It wasn't a pleasant job, sorting and packing various dyes: at the end of each day, we needed a shower before we could go home.  I didn't take to the job and very soon found another at Brook Motors, which I thought would be interesting.  It turned out I was standing at a machine, making the same bits day after day, and I was bored stiff. 

Then I saw a job advertised for an improver machinist in a small plastics firm called Elford Plastics in Elland.  I went for an interview and trial run and was taken on.  It was a two-man firm, plus me and the Office Lady.  One of the men worked on the plastic intrusion machine, making objects using the stainless steel moulds made by the other man and me in the machine shop.  It was very interesting work, I learned to use lathes, drilling machines and grinding machines for a very fine finish.  The firm was very busy and we worked overtime, trying to keep up with demand.  All went well for over a year and I was enjoying the job, then they took an order to supply a stainless steel Rich Tea biscuit mould for one of the bakeries.  It was a panic job, as the factory machine couldn't work without it.  I was given the final job of drilling the holes in the steel, using a very fine 1/64" drill bit.  All went well until the very last hole and the drill bit shattered and got jammed in the mould.  The machine shop manager, who was going to deliver it on his way home, lost his temper and I was told, "Go home and don't come back".  He had to stay all night to make a new one himself.  I don't know if he felt the same way in the morning, but I took him at his word and never did return there to work - a pity, for it was a job I really did enjoy and I learned a lot.

My next job was as an improver tuner in Crowther's Mill at Milnsbridge.  Starting as a chainmaker, it was linking together metal tubes and spacers in a long link that was then fitted onto the loom machine and the pattern of the finished material depended on the pattern of the chain being used.  It was a very noisy place with all the machines working - lip reading was needed most of the time.  The job also entailed moving the finished roll of material from the machine and fitting a new roll.  They were very heavy and little two-wheel trolleys were used.  Comradeship was good, there were about four of us chainmaking.  The next step up was tuning.  Tuning was the expert work of setting up the looms ready for making the required material and was a coveted position for all the chainmakers.  I wasn't there long before I was made aware that tuning vacancies only came up if someone retired or died, so there were little prospects in the mill for me.