Computer helpSee our beginners’ guideto getting yourself online.

President’s DaysReports, pictures andloads of new members.

AUTUMN 2012

Retired Employees’ NewsProduced on behalf of the John Laing Charitable Trust

MAIN NEWSDEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: OCTOBER 31, 2012

32

That Olympic spirit we know so wellWELL after all the false starts it isfair to say that the London 2012Olympics was a great success.Early worries about complex

ticket-buying; security (when thecontractors had to call on thearmy for help) and a few emptyseats in the first couple of dayswere eclipsed by a major haul ofGB medals and a feelgood factorwhich pervaded the whole countryand beyond.Laing people were at the heart of

it all.John Armitt was knighted for his

role in delivering the facilities andpremises on time and on budget.Also, among the volunteers wasour very own Nigel Clark and theson of another Laing retiree (DavidToynbee) was a sailing umpire. The key thing which the organis-

ers wanted to achieve was thelegacy. What lasting benefitswould these Olympics leave afterthe athletes have all gone home?Well, judging by the amount of

new faces at my gym, and warning

from my children’s sports clubsabout unprecedented demand forplaces, at least in the short termthere seems to be a lot of interestin taking part.As Sir John Armitt told this publi-

cation in an interview, the Olympicvillage will provide housing and heis hopeful that the games will pro-vide jobs well into the future. Letus hope he is right. Some Olympicmysteries remain, like why profes-sional tennis and football playerscan take part, but not boxers.Anyway, there are plenty of arti-cles this issue based on the rightspirit. New club members (p12-13), Company news old (p6-9) andnew (p3-5), some Laing sportingachievements (p21) and a guide togetting yourself online (p26).Anyway, this joke is not going to

win any gold medals, but it is toldin the right spirit. A pensioner who is having a bit

of a late-life crisis goes out andbuys himself a brand new BMW Z4convertible sports car.

As soon as he leaves the show-room, he puts his foot down lov-ing the feeling of the wind inwhat’s left of his hair.Next thing he knows he is doing

120mph along the M4 when hespots a police car in the rear viewmirror pursuing him.Rather than pull over, he acceler-

ates to 140mph, then 160mph.Suddenly says to himself: “What amI doing? This is ridiculous.”He pulls over and the traffic

policeman does not look veryhappy when he comes over. Hesays: “Look, it’s Friday and I amgoing away for the weekend andso could do without this. If you cancome up with an excuse I havenever heard before, I’ll let you go.”

The old man looks up at thepoliceman and says: “I am so sorryofficer, but 20 years ago my wiferan off with a policeman and Ithought you were bringing herback.” The officer replies: “Have agood weekend sir.”

Alex Finkenrath

Main news 3Round up of top stories from the Company

Company news 4-5Rail contract signed and Director’s summary

Team Spirit Past 6-9Snippets of news from 25 and 50 years ago

President’s Day Summer Outings 10-11Round up of events

New members 12-13Meet the newest people to join up

Photo gallery from luncheons 14-19Meet the people who attended this year’s outings

Club news 20Events and news including an Olympic talk

Readers’ News 21-22Sporting endeavours, early Laing and hunt for crane driver history

Jespersen 23Further comment from a man in the know

Your anniversaries 24-25Two pages of special anniversaries

Welfare News 26How to get online and laingpastandpresent latest

In Memoriam 27

Please address news stories/queries to:Pensioner Publishing5 Harpenden CloseBedfordBeds, MK41 9RG

Tel: 01234 313055Mob: 07774 259542

Email:alex@retirement-news.co.uk

Please address other correspondence to:John Laing Welfare Dept33 Bunns LaneLondon NW7 2DXTel: 020 8959 9013

Printed by: Annodata PrintServices, Dunstable

CONTENTS

COVER: Laing retiree’s Olympicstory, full details on page 20.

PensionerPublishing

John Laing has entered therenewable energy markets withthe purchases of solar and windfarms.Contracts have been signed for

the acquisition of two operationalsolar parks: Five Oaks atBillingshurst, West Sussex andFryingdown based nearBasingstoke, Hampshire of whichJohn Laing is 100% investor.Financial Close has also been

achieved for the Company’s firstonshore wind project.Planning permission was grant-

ed in 2009 for five turbines onland at the restored BilsthorpeColliery in Nottinghamshire andsince then, a process to procurethe wind turbines and preparethe site for construction has beentaking place. John Laing pur-chased a 100% share in the proj-ect in October 2011.The project is now a step closer

to generating renewable electrici-ty and work has begun on site toinstall the wind turbines and sup-porting site infrastructure.

Construction of the access tracksand foundations began in lateJune and the turbines are expect-ed to arrive in January 2013 andis planned for operation in June2013, expecting to generateenough electricity to meet theneeds of over 6,000 homes. The wind farm will also create

employment and once up andrunning, it will provide a localcommunity fund.The solar farms have been fully

operational since December2011, the combined peak energycapacity of the parks is 9.8MW,exporting to the grid the equiva-lent of around 3,000 homes’annual electricity consumption. Both parks will benefit from

long term Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) pay-ments, which are fixed for 25years and have furthermoresecured contracts for the export-ed renewable energy to one ofthe UK’s big six energy suppliers.

Company moves into therenewable energy market

John Laing has movedto its new offices at 1Kingsway, London.The telephone and

email numbers for thePensions Departmentwill remain the same asthey were and theWelfare Departmentcontinues to operatefrom Bunns Lane in MillHill (full address andtelephone number arefeatured on the facingpage).In a typically innovative

move, the Company has

used the opportunity tointroduce a new way ofworking.All desks in the open

plan office are ‘hotdesks’ which meansthey can be used byanyone.While employees gen-

erally work at the samespot each day, beforegoing home they cleartheir desks transferringbelongings to a locker. This means that if they

are working away fromthe office or on holiday,

someone else can usetheir desk. There is alsoadded security at thenew offices, ‘breakoutareas’ and refreshmentsareas.

John Laing hotdesks it to new HQ

What a solarfarm looks like

COMPANY NEWS

4 5

THE UK Department for Transport(DfT) and Agility Trains (comprisingHitachi Rail Europe and John LaingInvestments) signed the contractfor the DfT’s Intercity ExpressProgramme (IEP) on July 25.They also confirmed financial

close for Phase 1 of the project.The IEP, worth some £4.5bn, com-

prises trains, maintenance depots,and route upgrades, with NetworkRail undertaking the infrastructureupgrades to allow the new trains tooperate on the network.The fact that Laing will be part

owner and supplier of the actualrolling stock – state of the artJapanese-style high-speed trains –is a new departure in Laing’s asso-ciation with the rail industry.Agility Trains is the contract part-

ner for the DfT for the delivery oftrains, maintenance and daily serv-

ice delivery, with Hitachi RailEurope as sub-contractor in chargeof supplying the trains and ensur-ing that they reliably perform day inand day out. The contract guaran-tees 27.5 years of usage of thetrains, ensuring long-term reliabili-ty for UK passengers.As part of the contract, Agility

Trains’ sub-contractor Hitachi RailEurope will provide 596 carriages ofelectric and bi-mode trains for theGreat Western Main Line (Phase 1)and the East Coast Main Line (Phase2). The fleet of 92 trains will bemaintained in a number of new-built and upgraded maintenancefacilities, including new depots inSwansea, Bristol, west London andDoncaster.Alistair Dormer, Chief Executive

Officer of Agility Trains said: “Weare absolutely delighted to have

achieved contract award on theIntercity Express Programme. It isamong the biggest contracts everclosed in the UK rail industry andwill mean a step change in reliabili-ty, capacity and comfort to Britishpassengers. The new fleet of trainswill be substantially built in the UKby our supplier Hitachi Rail Europein their new manufacturing plant inthe north east of England, bringingadditional socio-economic benefitsto Great Britain.”■ View a computer generated film ofthe Hitachi Intercity Express Train at:www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeddoFChmm8&feature=context-chahttp://youtu.be/c0P5CmBNWLcThere is also an animation of

planned Hitachi Rail Europe manu-facturing plant in Newton Aycliffe at:www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ0B2Mv_CiE

John Laing embarks ona £4.5bn rail project

The Laing consortiumwill bring new high-speedtrains to UK rail lines.

JOHN LAING Regional OperationsDirector Richard Groome gave hisannual update of how the businessis doing when he attended theNorth West Summer Luncheon inJune.He told retirees that it had been a

tough year for most businesses,but that John Laing is currentlyworking on a lot of exciting proj-ects covering all forms of infra-structure in the UK and overseas.The Company is now three quar-

ters of the way through theManchester waste project which isthe biggest of its kind in Europe.It involves creating 43 new sites

across Manchester – soon to befinished – which will enable all thecity’s rubbish to be treated orrecycled thus getting rid of theneed for landfill sites. It evenincludes a new power station atRuncorn which will be fuelled sole-ly by rubbish.Barnsley schools is the biggest

educational project in Europe.Eleven of the new schools arenearly finished. In a throwback to Laing’s pio-

neering days, there is no scaffold-ing on site. Cranes are used to

build the structures and bringready-made sections/blocks ontosite. A bit like Jespersen.The Oldham and Kirklees

(Huddersfield) housing schemes arealso well under way. Regenter, thepart of John Laing which focuses onthis sector of the business, recentlyissued a press release ‘following ahugely successful six months’.In the Health sector Laing has

become preferred bidder on newAlder Hey Children’s Hospital inLiverpool. The plans for this£150m project are innovative andgeared towards making the hospi-tal experience as good as it can befor patients and their families. Ontop of state of the art healthcarethe designs include aspects suchas grass roofs, panoramic windowsfor children and places for parentsto stay.

Experiences on recent healthprojects like the N Staffs hospitalat Stoke on Trent, have been usedto win new business in Australia,where the new Royal AdelaideHospital project has just started.More Company experience will

be transported down under to anew Wiri prison project in New

Zealand, which is currently at pre-ferred bidder stage.The most exciting new projects

are covered on the previous pagesof this magazine, including theCompany’s move into renewableenergy sources and railways.Richard said: “Most exciting is the

rail contract (The Intercity ExpressProgramme – IEP). Unlike HS2, weare not forging new lines throughthe Chilterns, but updating exist-ing tracks on the Great Westernline to take Japanese-style bullettrains. “We will be electrifying lines

which are not already electric, andreplacing the Intercity 125 trainsthat are over 40 years old.“The main new aspect of this

project is that we will own therolling stock, all the trains,through the consortium withHitachi and Barclays. If things gowell, we will do the same with eastCoast Rail.”Richard finished by reminding

everyone that the John LaingInfrastructure Fund (JLIF) is part ofFTSE 250 again following floata-tion on the Stock Exchange, aswas John Laing in the old days.

Director’s business summaryWind farm The Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool Richard Groome

TEAM SPIRIT 50 YEARS AGO – 1962 TEAM SPIRIT 50 YEARS AGO – 1962

6 7

AS the current Laing Group worksto regenerate Croydon, Team Spirithighlighted another ‘interestingexample’ of Laingspan use in theborough. As part of the NationalSchools Construction Programmethe Company was creating a newjunior school and senior girls’boarding house for the RoyalWarehousemen Clerks and DrapersSchools.

The American Ambassador DavidBruce officially opened the newGoodhart Building at UniversityCollege, Oxford. Dr Goodhartpraised the very high standard ofconstruction and said he was surethat the college’s hope that thebuildings would last for 300 yearswas not an overestimate. The build-ing contained 42 sets of under-graduate rooms in a five-storeyblock.

The Company won three new con-tracts in Canada worth more than$4million. These included ‘one ofthe most advanced dairies in NorthAmerica’, a four-storey extension tothe Electrical Engineering Buildingat the University of BritishColumbia in Vancouver and an air-craft parking area at VictoriaInternational Airport in Vancouver.

Civil engineering work worth £4mil-lion had begun at EggboroughPower Station near Selby. Itinvolved creating the foundationsand water circulating installationson the £70million coal-fired stationwhich occupied a 370-acre site.

A topping out for the WestCumberland Hospital was sched-uled for October 12. The massiveproject involved medical, surgicaland children’s wards, orthopaedicand pathological blocks, adminbuildings, five operating theatresand a total of 488 beds. Teammembers pictured below, fromleft: J Pearson, RW Scott, TEHeatherington and RW Mitchinson.

Members of the team on the Harp Lager brewery site at Alton took partin a ‘fight across the River Wey’. It was a tug of war between Laingstaff and customers of the Baker’s Arms, Alton. It had all started out asa joke following a casual remark. It ended up with 100 spectatorswatching the Laing team win through in a fun afternoon for everyone.

The Company carried out £6.5million of work at theBerkeley Power Station. It included shielding for tworeactors, ancillary buildings, the installation of servicessuch as roads, water supply, cable tunnels and drainagesystem.Team Spirit reported that when the team first went tothe site in February 1957, it was a rain-sodden stretch ofcountryside by the Severn Estuary. It was soon tobecome Britain’s first commercial nuclear power station.

Brian Gardner, a 20-year-oldbricklayer, won the CraftAward in the National Final ofthe Apprentice of the Yearscheme organised by theBritish Junior Chambers ofCommerce. He won a six-month working visit to Canadabeginning in October that year.

From left TJ Mullen, J Braithwaite, MTremlett, M Devine C Lynch and T Boyle.

From left, back: Michael ‘Lofty’ Easter,William ‘Big Bill’ Ashton, Dennis Tighe,Lionel Grimmer. Front: Owen Dempseyand Francis Braddish.

The newly opened M6, which is far busier today

Team Spirit reported an ‘all out effort to complete the first sectionof the M6’ in August of this year. Section A, which bypassedStafford had 500 men working all out to finish the 5.5mile sectionin time for the scheduled opening on August 2. The asphalt topwas being laid at 5,000 feet of carriageway per week in the finalweeks. The team was successful completing the roadways and the25 structures in time for Transport Minister Ernest Marples to offi-cally open it. The team had been held up by ‘appalling weather’with 7.4inches of rainfall in the first few weeks of the project, inAugust/September 1960.

The Company was about to start work on a newtown centre for Burton on Trent. The ‘comprehen-sive £1million scheme’ was to be carried out intwo stages and cover 12 acres. There would be amodern pedestrian shopping precinct linkingfrontages from the two main shopping streets.The first stage would cover five acres with 40shop units and parking for 400 cars. The secondstage would bring the town’s covered market intothe scheme, with ten further shops, entertainmentand recreation facilities and parking for a further2,000 cars.

Plant Department won the J Michie Trophy in theinterdepartmental Football Competition. They beatthe Design Engineers team in the final.

Britain’s tallest office building, the CIS tower inManchester was opened by HRH Prince Philip onOctober 22. It was 400ft high.

Twin tower blocks at Southend, with 75 flats perbuilding, were completed nine weeks ahead ofschedule.

In Essex Laingwall construction was used to createtwo storey offices for E H Bentall and Company,who thanked Laing for a ‘magnificent job’.

A £12million contract for the construction of the new headoffice for the British Petroleum Company Limited was setto be the tallest building in the City of London.At 35 storeys it would be at the north east edge of thecity’s Barbican redevelopment area and the new buildingswould accommodate 2,000 office staff. Four floors wouldhouse engineering services and it would be airconditionedthroughout. Construction was to be of reinforced concreteand to achieve ‘an appearance of lightness’ the windowwalls were to be kept back behind deep structuralcolumns, sheathed with stainless steel. The windows wereto be of ‘solar glass’. An artists impression featured left.

TEAM SPIRIT 25 YEARS AGO – 1987 TEAM SPIRIT 25 YEARS AGO – 1987

8 9

Work was powering ahead on‘the world’s most exciting air-port’ at Stansted – according tothe Contract Journal.It was well on target for the 1990opening date and was beingundertaken by a DevelopmentTeam which included LaingManagement Contracting (LMC)as consultant contractor.At peak they expected to have 50LMC staff on site and 1,200 oper-atives.They anticipated 30,000 original

design drawings and about 1mil-lion copies which were to bemade on site to speed up theprocess.The scope of developmentincluded:■ New road complex fromJunction 8 of the M11 to the newTerminal building■ Short term (3,000) and longterm (8,000) car parking■ New British Rail link fromexisting Cambridge/London line.(There was a joke on site that

this would require a level cross-ing on the M11, but they settledfor a tunnel beneath the existingrunway).■ Cargo and Maintenance facili-ties■ Satellite building■ Fully automated track transitsystem■ 200m long terminal buildingproviding about 50,000 sq m ofuseable floor area on two levels■ All infrastructure work andsundry facilities.

The 1986 Employee Report was publishedwhich provided some great statistics.■ There were 9,000 male employees and1,100 female employees■ 2,433 of them had been with the companyfor 10-24 years; 790 had served 25-39 yearsand 66 had served for 40 years or more.■ Staff by geographical regions:South East central and south – 5,100Midlands – 752South West and South Wales – 592East Anglia – 122North West and North Wales – 1,486Yorkshire and Humberside – 452Norther England – 752Scotland – 652Northern Ireland – 192A further 2,400 people were employed over-seas.The Company paid a total of £137.3million toemployees in wages, salaries, allowances andfor National Insurance and pensions contribu-tions.Retired Employees by geographical region:South East central and south – 1,231Midlands – 238South West and South Wales – 374East Anglia – 79North West and North Wales – 92Yorkshire and Humberside – 95Norther England – 290Scotland – 119Northern Ireland – 74Overseas – 28

OC Summers was boosted by the award of a two-year contract from TheNorth Thames Region of British Gas plc. With a potential value of £13million,which would have represented nearly 33% of OC Summers’ turnover. Thework involved the supply of 60-70 gangs for mains and service laying. TheCompany also won a contract to carry out transmission work for the sameregion. There was employment for 150 people working in the Pinner, Kilburn,Angel, Bayswater, Chelsea and Fulham areas.

In Enfield Bishop Phillip Harvey from the WestminsterDiocese blessed the new church built by Laing Homes, whichalso donated an altar and cross. Our Lady of Walsingham atHoltwhites Hill was constructed as Homes developed theadjoining land at Chasewood. The development featured amix of one and two bedroom flats and two, three and fourbedroom houses ranging in price from £59,995 for a onebedroom flat to £120,000 for a three bedroom house.

The whole country had seen the televisionadvertising of ‘the only place in Englandwhere you can get a suntan even when it’sraining’.Team Spirit ran a four page colour specialmarking the opening of Sherwood ForestCenter Parcs.Bookings were accepted from July 3 by theDutch company behind the project.Laing Midlands completed the £25millionproject on an extremely tight 14-monthprogramme.Team Spirit reported: “True to form theweather at the beginning of ‘flaming June’was cool and rainy, so everyone had agood chance to test out the efficacy of thewidely publicised Subtropical SwimmingParadise.”The project included 600 bungalows, waterpark, children’s activity areas including aBMX track, refreshment centres includingfive themed restaurants, a manmade lake,church, conference and shopping facilities.

LMC team at Stansted: Back row, from left: Charles Gjertsen, David Woolner, Martin Alley, Mike Woodhouse, FrancisBrown. Third row: Keith Kearly, Dave Scott, Alan Groom, Dave Pearson. Second row: Jeff Darlington, Collin Wood,Nick Holt. Front row: Jeffery Aw, Rita Moore, Peter Rimmington, Julia Freeman, Paul Weller, Ann Little, Lynn Hardyand Jo Cunningham.

The Company had been awarded acontract for construction of theA55 Penmaenmawr by-pass com-prising 2.6km of dual carriageway‘in flexible construction’ with twoviaducts, one bridge, one subway,12 retaining walls, sea defence andancillary works for the WelshOffice. Value of the contract was£22.2million.

The Company had recently beenawarded a £3.3million contract tomodernise 247 dwellings atKingswood Welsh Estate inManchester for the city council.

The biggest piling rig in the coun-try was called in at the CharlesDarwin Centre in Shrewsbury. Itwas an 80 tonne Concore rig.

Looking forward to their new tasks, from left: Don Harris, Kevin Darby,Gary Claussen, Brian Blight, John Stimpson, Dave Carter, Dave Cant, JimDonovan, Mike Barbeary, Paul Blackwell, Roy Jackson and Mick Webber.

Laing Management Contracting (LMC) reached its 100thcontract, the £64million redevelopment of the area aroundand beneath Charing Cross Station. Known asEmbankment Place, the office building above the stationwould provide 35,000 sq m of space on eight levels. LMCwas established in 1970.

In Florida a joint venture had been formed between Laingand the Clarkson to provide project management and con-sultancy on major construction projects in the USA. It wasthe Company’s first venture into construction manage-ment in the USA.

Apologies for this picture which was published across the foldin a special colour pull out in Team Spirit

1110

SUMMER OUTINGSSUMMER OUTINGS

SOUTH WEST Laing kicked off thisyear’s summer outings inBeanacre on a rare gloriouslysunny summer’s day.It was a far cry from the dank

and rainy scenes from HarryPotter films shot in the area whichattract thousands of visitors eachyear.Among those sharing their

memories was Peter Rowe whorecalled having one of the firstmobile telephones back in the day.”It was massive and heavy,” hesaid. He used to drive it around inthe car, but remembered having itwhile on the train one day. Hesaid: “As we were going along, itsuddenly went off. It gave me thefright of my life and everyone inthe carriage had no idea what itwas.”The Tites had just returned from

a South American cruise whichtook in the Falklands and enjoyeda few extra sights when they werebarred from docking in Argentinaas a result. At least they got to seea bit more of the Chilean Ffjords,landing safely in San Francisco inthe end.Doreen Jewell shocked everyone

when she revealed she had recent-ly celebrated her 90th birthday.On to the Peacock Country Inn

with Elstree on another sun-drenched occasion.Another stunning day at the

Peacock Country Inn, a handy stopoff for those walking the Ridgewayfrom Herts to Wilts.Malcolm Smith – who always has

a top notch joke ready – was say-ing that he had been flickingthrough the channels on the TVand stumbled upon a chase scenein some black and white movieand was delighted to see that thevillain was pursued past a Laingsign.Fay Henderson enjoys the events

so much she travels up fromHampshire stays with friend andmakes a short break of it. Sherecalled the day that her expensivenew typewriter arrived. The bossset it up on her desk in a newoffice, she was so pleased, movedit back slightly to get her paperout and it fell off the back of thedesk in100 pieces. Bloke just cameback and stared at it!!Chair Elsie Roberts was as funny

as ever with her speech, includinga reference to people who getupstairs and forget why they havegone there, which is why she livesin a bungalow.REAL gathered at the Monkey

Island Hotel where John andMargaret Trounce were surprisedto hear that friends on the otherside of the world had spotted theirpictures in REN. Apparently theirfriends in New Zealand were alsoconnected with Laing and receivethe magazine regularly.Ramsey Madden is wondering if

he is the last man standing fromthe old Page Street plant depotafter Harry Cray sadly passedaway. He started there in around1940 It was a big reunion, JohnSteedon recalls John Crehan sign-ing his indentures/contract, andthat Ramsey Madden and BillCutmore were his managers.Ramsey said: “I never had any

qualifications, I was just a greasemonkey, but I ended up as plantworkshop manager for ten years.The Company made it possible foranyone who was prepared to workhard to get on.”It helped that Ramsey had a

knack with machinery and could, inhis own words ‘fix pretty muchanything, especially with all thetools we had in the workshop.’His fond memories included when

Laing’s first crane arrived fromFrance and he spent the day put-ting it together with theFrenchman who delivered it.He was also a founder member of

REAL Retired Employees’Association Laing along with BillMalcolm in 1989.Among the guests was Stewart

Laing, son of Christopher, who isinvolved in managing some

News from this year’s outings smaller construction projects.The final outing of the first week

was with Solare at the StanhillCourt Hotel. There were gaspswhen chairman Ken Jones remind-ed diners that it has been 18 yearssince their first summer luncheonat Hever Castle.The links between members of

different clubs were evident.Stephanie Laing handed a note tocrane driver Egbert Bent which shehad been asked to pass on by JohnSteedon from REAL. Roy Taylorrecalled working with PaulChannon from South West club onthe Canada Sunlife building inBournemouth which featured agiant clock in the centre of an atri-um so you could always tell thetime.On the subject of Roy Taylor I

would like to put the recordstraight about a previous reportfrom the Spring issue. Whilst hisname is William, he is knownthroughout the world as Roy.He joined Laing Construction in

1985, Project Manager on manybig south coast jobs, before mov-ing to the Homes Division in 1992.He retired from there in 2004. Hislovely wife Maureen never workedfor Laing. Apart from that it wascompletely accurate.The event was attended by the

second son of David Laing, Benand his wife Stacy. Even I was caught out when a

special dessert containing a singlelit candle was presented to me tomark my birthday. I was thencoerced on to the microphone andfroze. Public speaking is not mything. I wish I had taken theopportunity to say what a pleasureand a privilege it is to meet somany Laing retired employees andto have a link with such an augustand dignified group of people.On to the second week beginning

with Carlisle in the Laing heart-lands.Amazingly Margaret Daltry had

told one of the jokes from thismagazine at her 80th birthday

party which went down a storm. Ican only presume she is a brilliantjoke teller.Sir Martin and Stephanie’s daugh-

ter Alex attended the event alongwith David Laing’s fourth sonJames and his wife Annette andson Jonjo. Alex learned what aLaing fortnight was – when you gooff on a two-week job that takeseight months.One of the fastest growing clubs

is in the North West. Dave Markallwho is also a Welfare officerrecalled the many social and chari-ty events they used to organisethere, including a fund-raisingevent which Chris Bonningtoncame to help with. Apparently hethrew himself into every aspect ofthe day. Far from just signing afew autographs he helped collectmoney in buckets and spent thewhole day with the Laing fellwalk-ing club.Ken Cole passed on a joke about a

woodpecker who went into a puband asked: “Is the bar tender here?”Richard Groome, a current director

of John Laing was a welcome guestwho provided a summary of whatthe business is doing just now.In Newcastle it was clear that this

was not the only reunion regularlyattended by diners. Monica Scottstill meets up to five times a yearwith her friends from UnsworthSchool in Washington, who shefirst met over 60 years ago.Guests were mesmerised by aduck which nests each year in aninner courtyard and is looked afterby staff. Then once its eggs arehatched they have to lead it andthe brood through the hotel to thewater.There were never any shortage of

characters in Laing, such as bricklayer Chris ‘Kit’ Ferguson. Hewould challenge anyone on sitewho thought they were fit to arace over 100 yards. This giantman (who apparently laid breezeblocks like a normal man wouldlay bricks) would offer to take a25yd headstart, but pick up a bag

of cement on the way to the finishline. People would even bet on itand by all accounts he was neverbeaten even though he ran in hisboots.Feel free to pass on other stories

of Laing characters to this maga-zine.On to Saltire in Scotland where

the main topic of conversationseemed to be the Jubilee celebra-tions, with many diners sayingthey had been glued to it.John O’Dowd was revelling in

having found a copy of the GoodBuilder at his local library andenjoyed it so much that he is onthe look out for a copy of his own.For Dave Thompson the trip to

The Lake of Menteith was a justprecursor to a big fishing compe-tition he had got coming up thereduring the summer.The outings finished in the

Midlands with Club Realm whereregular guest Charlie Laing wasjoined by his brother Tom.It was a mixed bag of weather,

but the event was as much fun asever.Among the great Laing charac-

ters remembered was Denis ‘King’Read. During the KetteringHospital project in the early 70s itbecame clear that the workforceintended to strike.“I’ll handle this,” said Denis who

went out to address the men. Hestood himself on a load of palletsof ply boards and said: “Right,I’ve heard you are going onstrike, but you’re not. Go back towork and we’ll say no more aboutit.”No one seemed to go back towork so he got back up and madethe point more forcefully, again tono avail. As he made the point athird time, a giant plastic dustbincame flying through the air, hit-ting him on the head and knock-ing him to the floor. He pickedhimself up and dusted himself offand headed back into the office.“Well, I told them,” he said.

Alex Finkenrath

Big news from this year’s summer outings was the announcement that Sue Hendinwho has been instrumental in their organisation for more than two decades will be

retiring (page 19). Also the clubs welcomed young members of the Laing familywho attended many of the luncheons. Clubs’ president Stephanie Laing spoke ateach event. She thanked the Welfare Department for the excellent care and sup-port they offer retirees all year round; the club committees, Sue Hendin and staff

at the various venues for making the lunches such a great success.

Stephanie Laing and Solare memberssharing a joke together

SUMMER OUTINGS

12 13

New members sign up to be with old friendsSOUTH WESTJohnRutledgewas a QSwho joinedLaing as‘green’ pupilin 1964. “Itwas a lifechangingmoment forme at theage of 19,” he said. “I was living athome and was offered the choiceof joining the local Surbiton officeor joining the Engineering andOverseas division up in northLondon. It must have taken me allof one second to decide to headnorth.”John joined at the tail end of themotorway era and his first roadwas the Wheatley bypass.He enjoyed his time with Laingincluding many varying projects,among the most memorable ofwhich was a distribution centre atRoss on Wye for Gateway super-markets which he described as ‘alovely happy job with great peopleand a client who was over themoon as we saved him money’.He spent 28 years with theCompany and went on to become aconsultant QS in 1992. He travelledfrom south Wales to catch up withformer colleagues and friends.

MANCHESTER

Gordon and Vicky Topham:He joined Laing in 1990 as a con-

trols/Project Manager basedbriefly in the northwest. However,he was soon sent off to Argentinaby Laing as the country enteredinto gas privatisation. He went outwith a couple of containers of OCSummers former equipment to sellon and to advise on gas distribu-tion.British gas had won the licenseand pointed them in Gordon’sdirection. What was originallygoing to be a three-month projectended up lasting 15. He even methis wife out there at the BritishEmbassy in Buenos Aires.Following that he worked on bigprojects in the UK and Irelandincluding Welsh Water, the £450msewage scheme project Omega inNorthern Ireland finnishing up onthe £400m Scottish WaterSolutions project.

Cliff and Joyce Holmes: He joinedthe company in 1988 and was aForeman Joiner. Based inManchester with Colin Dawsonquite a lot of the time. Among themany projects he enjoyed with thecompany was Trafford Hall atChesterfield.The first thing that happenedwhen they went up into the eaveswas that an owl came flying out ofthe roof; which never came back.However, following a successfulcontract, the team were keenlyanticipating the visit from PrinceCharles (as it had been construct-

ed for the Princes Trust).Cliff asked Colin Dawson what thedress code was and was told casu-al. On the day itself, it becameclear that Cliff was in the minorityin his casual dress. ThankfullyDick Underwood lent him a JohnLaing tie and his embarrassmentwas saved.

Colin Dawson (pictured with wifeElaine) spent virtually his wholecareer with Laing’s joining in 1973as a joiner, ending up as a projectmanager before moving toO’Rourke. He enjoyed his oldLaing career and among hisfavourite projects was CheathamMusic School in Manchester. It wasoriginally a three-month project,but they ended up on site forthree years as they were asked todo more and more bits and bobs.He did his apprenticeship withanother firm spending 13 yearswith a company which specialisedin ‘building, joinery and undertak-ing’.

Pat Gowlettattended herfirst summerluncheonthis year.Her husbandJohn was aforemanbricklayer fortheCompany.

CARLISLEPhilipChapmanmade a wel-come returnto the clubafter a longabsence. Hewas a highlyrated QS with-in the compa-ny where hespent 46years. He was only in Carlisle for afortnight moving straight on toaerodromes in Suffolk. Following aspell in the army he was all overthe place, West Cumberland,Bradford, Doncaster and Newcastleamong others. He started in 1942and whilst he enjoyed his wholetime with Laing, he particularlyrecalled the two weeks he spent inthe Falklands out of the Newcastleoffice.His son Roger said that his fatherwas probably too modest to pointout that he was highly regardedand often sent to sort out issueson tough projects. He turned downpromotions so he could remain‘hands on’.

LNERKeith Littlespent 42years withLaing’s oldand new.He joinedin 1970 inhis homearea of Cumbria working on apaper mill at Wigton. He marriedin 1973 and the same year movedto housing projects in Newcastlewhere he worked until 2001. Thattime marked one of his favouriteprojects. The Millennium Gallery inCarlisle was special for being a

Millennium project; back in Laingand one of last projects before theCompany was sold. They dug upmany historic finds and includedmany local touches including a tra-ditional cursing stone and tradi-tional rievers (or border raiders’)names carved into the tunnelwhich linked parts of the project.While Keith was on that project,Ian Turnbull’s team were renovat-ing Debenhams in the nearbyLanes Shopping Centre. They dugup far less savoury things, includ-ing an Anglian cess pit (accordingto the archaeologists) and ahorse’s head with the remains of asaddle thought to be one of onlytwo in the world. Both items endedup across the road in the Carlislegallery.

SALTIRE

Willy and Grace McIntyre attendedtheir first luncheon. He worked atLaing for 26 years from 1976. Hestarted out at the Gart NavalHospital in Glasgow as a joiner.After about a year and a half hemoved onwards and upwards,eventually ending up as site fore-man.He also worked on the RoyalInfirmary Glasgow for eight out ofthe nine years Laing there.He said he was there “from pilecaps to pile ops’Between 1983 and 85 he was inSaudi Arabia. He enjoyed everypart of his Laing career, but Saudi

was special as people had to alllive together and had to get on tosurvive.

REALMTed Mintonattendingfor the firsttime. Heretiredfrom workaltogetherat Easterhavingworked forhimself. Hesaid he is still getting used to nothaving to work.He started with the Company in1964 on the M6 in Staffordshire.He spent 38.5 years there in totalmoving to the Weston Depot in1966. It was only due to be atemporary job.Ted was a fleet lorry driver. Over the years his job got a loteasier. He said: “Looking back itwas hard at first. We would deliv-er all over the place and it was allhand loading.”Sometimes they would load up to20 tonnes of gear and then driveit to a site to unload it all by handagain. Much of what they deliv-ered to site was scaffolding. Inthe sixties quickstage arrived,which made the fleetmen’s lifemuch easier. This was on palletsand could be loaded andunloaded by forklifts, which hadalso arrived.“I have often wondered how Istuck at it,” said Ted, “But I amglad I did. Wonderful people.”He stopped work in 2002 follow-ing an accident in Manchester onthe job. He was off work for ayear and would have gone on toO’Rourke but decided to take thepension offer instead.Van driver 12 years man and van.

SUMMER OUTINGS

14 15

TOP: Alan Thorpe and June Chadwick, Betty Shallish, Mike and Gillian Bownas, Peggy andJohn Stiles, Marcia and Colin Jones. SECOND: Eddie Garaway, Edna Haynes, Geoff Luckett,Gordon and Christine Pirrie, Anna Tulodziecki, David Morgan and Hazel Tatton. THIRD:Gwyneth and John Pierce, John and Lorraine Tite, Joyce Padfield, Derek and Pat Mead.FOURTH: Paul Channon, Lillian Holbrook, Doreen Jewell and daughter, Peter Rowe, Rolyand Gladys Rogers. FIFTH: Nannette and Eddie Goodman, Margaret (Migs) and LindsayWilliamson, Joan and Cliff Skinner, Ron Flowers, John Rutldge, Tina and Danny ONeill.

ELSTREE – ThePeacockCountry Inn,Henton –May 29

TOP: DorisWright, CharlieNelson, ElsieRoberts andChristineAllenby.SECOND: LynnEwers, GaySouthgate, Tomand Peggy Grant.THIRD: JoanSmedley, JosieShingles, JoyceHeap, MaggiePutman.FOURTH: Mickand Eve Glover,Fay Henderson,Shirley Napierand PaulineAndrews.FIFTH: Malcolmand MarionSmith, StephanieLaing, Rose andHarry Snell.SIXTH: MargaretStaines, Sid andDoreenButterfield, AnnSmith.

South West: May 28, Beechfield House Hotel, Beanacre.

SOLARE: May 31, The Stanhill Country Court HotelTOP: Frank and Vivianne Sinnock, John and Ann May,Beryl Henry, Betty Hagart, Margaret and Jim Glynn, Benand Stacy Laing, George and Sandra Edwards, Roy andBarbara Taylor, Gil and Betty Lumley, John and Pat Tully,John Tonkin. SECOND: Bill and Shirley Blamire, Barbaraand Brian Blight, Dave and Jan Constable, Hazel Watson,Tony Hale, Ken and Roberta Jones, Gerry and MonicaLewis, Margaret and Ron Richards, Maureen Rice,Leighton and Wendy Davies. THIRD: Peter and CarolWatkins, Ian and Carole Walden, Cyril Blackburn, Roy andDorothy Graham, Les and Deanne Hilman, Pam Pead,Monica and Trevor Berry, Joyce and Michael LeMonier,Marion and Mike James FOURTH: Egbert Bent and KathyGrant, Teresa Piekarski, Jean and Eric Childs, Shirley andKen Fisher, Lynn Wilkins, Stan and Pat Jarman, Ray andJoan Wright, Ray and Rena Phillips, Sid and Kate Bishop.

REAL: – Monkey Island Hotel, Bray – May 30TOP: Tony and Pauline Bryant, Jane and Alan Chaney,Teresa Pettican, David Toynbee, Stewart Laing. SECOND: Bill Bowden, Anne and Peter Coles, Christineand David Armstrong, Derek Crowther, Eddie Blackburn,Doreen Smee. THIRD: Cora and Ron Field, Brian Cider,Frank and Dorothy Hearn, Joe and Mary Hornsby, PhilHoward. FOURTH: Jasmin Brown, Jean and Don Ridley,Jean and Jerry De Vries, Gillian and John Davis, Joyceand Ken Martin. FIFTH: Lew and June Gambrill, Lal Dias,Mike Shaffi, Audrey Maynard, Fay and Bill Malcolm,Lorna Glide. SIXTH: Roger and Maureen Mountford, Ronand Eileen Norton, Fred Potter, John and Hazel Steeden.SEVENTH: Ron and Margaret Brooks, Margaret and JohnTrounce, Jennifer and Vic Israel, Ramsay Madden.EIGHTH: Barry and Barbara Whitaker, Pauline and FrankWillcocks, John Crehan and son Christopher, Christineand Gordon Foster.

SUMMER OUTINGS

16 17

CARLISLE – Inn On The Lake, Ullswater – JUNE 11 TOP: Ian Moonie, Phillip Chapman, Elliott and Margaret Hall, Brenda and Jim Harrison,Pat Corrie, Harry and Connie Haughan, Ena Pearson. SECOND: James, Annette andJonjo Laing, Jean McAvoy, Jean McVittie, Jim and Irene Davidson, Joan Weymouth,Connie Frizzel and Annie Winthrop Laing. THIRD: Dorothy and John Hendrie, Sylviaand John Robinson, Derek and June Wilson, Launa Ledgerwood and Harry Stodart,Jimmy Pringle. FOURTH: Margaret Levin, John and Sheila Barrow, Joyce Nanson, Regand Maureen Beattie, Bob Twaddle and daughter Maureen. FIFTH: Rita and HughMcGeoch, Steven and Carol Holt, Sylvia and Ronnie Hodgson, Isobel and AlfMumberson. SIXTH: Ted and Mavis Drinkwater, Bob and Maureen Peat, Cecilia Morris,Sheila and Gordon Carter, Bill Macmillan, Elmer Richardson. SEVENTH: Maureen andColin Wood, Connie and Leslie Barlow, Margaret and Tony Daltry, Anna and DannyWilkinson, George Mitchell. EIGHTH: Gordon and Margaret Lawson, George McVittie,George and Norma Johnson, Fay and Tony Douglas, Jenny and Geoff Smith.

North West, Inn on the Lake, Ullswater – June 12TOP: Stephen and Barbara Moss, Bill Eaton, Bill andPatricia Ferguson.SECOND: Jack Stokes, Elaine and Colin Dawson, Joyceand Cliff Holmes.THIRD: Margaret and Colin Nyland, Joyce Elliott,Dorrie and Dick Underwood. FOURTH: Dave and Sue Markall, Vicky and GordonTopham, Iris Commons.FIFTH: Sue and Finbar Carroll, Ken Coles, Chris andIrene Taylor. SIXTH: Mick McKenna, Jean and Bob Weaving, LillianJames. SEVENTH: Pat Gowlett, Peter Souter, Richard Groome,Ann and Malachy Concannon.

LNER – Hardwick House Hotel, Sedgewick – June13TOP: Betty Hope, Margery and Bill Childs, Jean and Ian Turnbull, John and PatCrosby, Anne Foster. SECOND: Sandra and Brian Coppen, Sylvia and Joe Crozier,Tony Blackwell, Brenda and Jim Watson, Dorothy Pearson. THIRD: Dick andJosephine James, Andy and Diana Cutler, Cyril Wallace and son Paul, Stan andMargaret Edwards. FOURTH: Jean and Bill Ferguson, Jack and Eileen Henderson,Wilf and Norma Hannan, George Beasley, Barbara and Harold Hulse. FIFTH:Aiden and Pauline Kelly, Joe Birkett, John and Monica Scott, Keith White, Rob andMary Kelly. SIXTH: Mary Ridley and Derek Roebuck, Alex Laing, Maurice Kelly,Mavis and Bill Jackson, Ted and Nancy Macfarlane. SEVENTH: Matty Ovingtonand daughter Jackie, Sue and Malcolm Reid, Shirley and Ali Thompson, Marionand Peter Purvey. EIGHTH: Art and Mavis Smith, Hilda and George Storey, MaxWhitlock, Josephine and Bryon Taylor.

18 19

SUMMER OUTINGS AND CLUB NEWSPRESIDENT’S DAY SUMMER OUTINGS

REALM – Dovecliff Hall Hotel, Stretton – June 15TOP: Charlie Laing, Barbara Taylor, Betty Johnson, Bob and Annette Homer, Maureenand Brian Murphy, Kathy Woodcock. SECOND: David Saunders, June and Chig Gibson,Alan and Barbara Swindell, Gil and Anne Roberts. THIRD: Ian Rennie, David and JaneBarnes, Barbara and Stuart Lowe, Sheila and John Goodenough. FOURTH: Rowlandand Pam Seymour, Vi and Roy Selway, Janet and Stan Utting, Sheila Pye, RosaleenNorris, Ted Minton. FIFTH: Stuart Murray, Tony and Sue Pott, Tom Laing, BerylSutcliffe, Sue Hendin, Trevor and Eileen Manning, Ray Ritchie. SIXTH: Daphne andPeter Cusden, Michael and Mary Jordan, Anne and Brian Burrin, Joan Street, Peter andMaggie Rand. SEVENTH: Rose and Pat Mortimer, Maria Kijowski Phil and Janet Price,Alex Laing, Phil Nunn, Maureen Ford. EIGHTH: Marian and Alan Vining, Mary Higgins,Paula Mariner, Jan and David Hemlin, John and Sheila Parry, Jill and John Gandy.

All former Laingemployees and theirpartners are welcometo join one of theretirement clubs situ-ated around the coun-try.They were started by

Lady Joan Laing wholaunched the ElstreeClub back in 1971with 50 members.Since then they have

spread around thecountry enabling for-mer employees andtheir better halves toget together forsocial occasions.

Laing retiree club information

SALTIRE – LakeHotel, Port ofMentieth –June 14

TOP: Maurice andNan Ashbridge, Billand Grace McIntyre,Brenda Spowart, JohnDixon.SECOND: Lynn andDenis Gilligan, Samand Sue Fergusson,Anna and DaveThompson.THIRD: Norah Paton,Jack and JanetAllardyce, Rita andHugh McGeoch,George Dixon.FOURTH: Jean andIan Beckwith, Jim andDoris Saunders, Jimand Helen McFadden.FIFTH: John andJoyce O’Dowd,Monica and StanKarbownicki, Bettyand Frank McGill.SIXTH: Tom McVeigh,Andy Allen, DennisConnelly, Margaretand Maurice Lone.

There are regularmeetings and tripsorganised by thededicated commit-teee members.The two main

events are theSummer Outingsand ChristmasLunches.They provide a

host of socialevents during theyear. Many club mem-

bers have joinedclubs in new areashaving moved inretirement and

other membershave joined theclubs situated inthe areas wherethey used to workfor the Companyrather than wherethey live now.The clubs are in

close contact withthe Laing Welfaredepartment, whichof course is onhand to help allLaing retirees, notjust club members.However, help is

provided for theclubs to organise

their administra-tion and events ifrequired.If you would be

interested in join-ing one of the nineclubs around thecountry, you canget in contact usingthe information onpage 20.Also on the follow-

ing pages is otherclub news includ-ing details of meet-ings and eventswhich the variousgroups have organ-ised.

Sue Hendin pictured at the President’sDay summer outings this year

A fond farewellto lunch partner THERE was atinge of sadnessfor each of thisyear’s luncheonsas it was revealedthat Sue Hendinhas retired.In true Laing

tradition, shelooks like she isgoing a good tenyears too early,even taking intoaccount earlyretirement.Stephanie Laing

led the tributeshaving first takenSue on 27 yearsago, duringwhich time theyhave become‘firm friends’ andworked closelytogether onmany projects,mainly connectedto the Laingretirement clubs.Each club took

its turn to thankSue for her helpand friendshipover the years,and in particularher wonderfulorganisationalskills when itcomes to all sortsof events, partic-ularly the annuallunches.There were

tears as manywonderful storieswere told andtributes paid tosomeone whohas been such aclose friend to allthe clubs andtheir members.On the bright

side, as Sue hasoffered to organ-ise lunches untila replacement isfound, the asso-ciation continuesfor now.

READERS’ SPORTS NEWSCLUB NEWS EXTRA

20 21

CUMBRIA* Monthly meetings atWigton Methodist HallSEPTEMBER 5* The Last Man To Hang,talk by Barry Kirkbride.OCTOBER 3* Lunch with entertain-ment by MurielWilkinson.NOVEMBER 7* Magic with StuartBowie.

ELSTREE* Weekly meetingsSt Michael and All AngelsChurch Hall, Tuesday2.30pm.SEPTEMBER 12* Trip to Southend on Sea.

REALMonthly meetings atAllum Hall, BorehamwoodSEPTEMBER 26Visit to BuckinghamPalace.OCTOBER 3Talk by Alan Chaney onBali.OCTOBER 17Coach trip to Duxford.

NOVEMBER 7Talk by DavidToynbee.NOVEMBER 21Coach trip to Oxford.

REALMSEPTEMBER 5* Tour of the JewelleryQuarter, meet at themuseum at 10.30am.

SALTIRESEPTEMBER 12* Theatre visit to theKings to see musicalSister Act.

SOLARESEPTEMBER 26* Social and AGM withlunch at HotelAntoinette, Kingston.* Autumn lunch at theToby Carvery in Ewell.

SOUTH WESTSEPTEMBER 6* Late Summer Lunchat Brent House, Brent.OCTOBER 25* Autumn Lunch,Camely Lodge

CLUB EVENTS

Contact club secretaries for further details

CumbriaMargaret Levin? 01228-526374 maglevin1@gmail.com

ElstreeShirley Napier? 020 8207 5110shirley_napier@hotmail.com

LNER (North East)

John Crosby? 0191 262 4978 johnvcrosby@talktalk.net

North WestDave Markall? 07787 744392david.markall@laing.com

REAL (Nth London)Pauline Bryant

? 020 8907 2166 paulinemum@aol.comREALM (Midlands) Jane Barnes? 01827 61267 mjbarnes99@yahoo.co.uk

Saltire (Scotland) Jim Saunders? 01324 638896saund@blueyonder.co.uk

Solare (SW London)Bill Blamire? 01737 553174 (Email c/o Chairman KenJones)laird1964@yahoo.co.uk_

South West Geoff Luckett? 01934 843077 geoffrey.luckett@tiscali.co.uk

CLUB CONTACTS

Nigel’s Olympic storyFORMER Laing GroupTaxation Assistant NigelClark (pictured) is cur-rently preparing a talkabout his experiences asan Olympic volunteer forfellow members at ClubREAL.Nigel very much

enjoyed the Olympicexperience and was fullof praise for the people,the organisation and theevent itself.His duties mainly

involved checking ticketsand providing help andadvice for visitors, how-ever his fluent Frenchcame in handy as helanded himself a one-and-a-half hour spot asone of the main tannoyannouncers.“The girl who was

meant to be doing it didnot fancy it and so Ioffered to do it,” he said. “Messages to be

announced were fedthrough to me and I didso in French andEnglish.”Nigel said the interview

for the volunteering rolewas among the toughesthe had ever undertaken.Although immensely

enjoyable it was toughat times, volunteers cov-ering around sevenmiles in the massivepark each day duringseven hour shifts. Therewere very few stressfulmoments, althoughNigel was subjected tosome choice languageduring a stand-off with awoman on a mobilityscooter attempting to gothe wrong way into thePark.Other highlights includ-

ed a grandstand view ofthe opening ceremonyfireworks from a gantryon the Stratford Gateand watching a fewevents on his days off(for which he hadbought tickets).Nigel even found him-

self involved in sprint-ing. He added: “I had todo the 400m dash eachday to catch the trainhome at St Pancras.”

Dear Sir,during my time in the Midland Regionwe had a sea angling club and hadmany great times at sea. When Imoved to the North West we formed aclub and again had many trips all overthe country for many years.I have carried on fishing during retire-ment and spent three days fishing outof Port Logan in Scotland.The fish in the photo is a 75lb Tope atype of shark, caught on 25th July. Afish of 35lb is classed as specimenweight, anglers are always thrilled tocatch them over 40lb. Fish of 50lb and60lb are scarce but caught each year.To get a 75lb is something I doubt willhappen to me again but I will try.The current British record stands at82lb 8 oz.I hope all my ex fishing friends enjoyseeing what I am up to in retirement.

Dick Underwood

An extra-Laing fish

Famous footy matchDear Sir,At the Saltire Lunch at Lake ofMenteith, John Dixon and Iwere talking about our time inSaudi Arabia, with Laing,Wimpey Alireza, buildingHospitals at Al Midnab, AlBukariah, Al Jubail.I thought you might be able to

print a story about our famousfootball match played againstthe Italians at Bukariah inOctober 1983.The following were selected as

the British Isles Select, and Ijust wonder how many are stillkicking around, and mayberead the article in theRetirement News.* Goal – Ted Curtis –(Tottenham Hotspur)* Sub Goal – Phil Giles –(Luton Town)* Fullback – Alan Hodgson –(Crystal Palace)* Fullback – Keith Searle –(Southampton)* Centre Back – Alan Lyons –(Stirling Albion)* Centre Back – Rob Mair –(Tranmere Rovers)* Midfield – Jimmy Murray –(Man. United)

* Midfield – Terry Maud –(Huddersfield Town)* Midfield – Willie McIntyre –(Queen's Park)* Striker – Barry Reid –(Tranmere Rovers)* Striker – Paul Ashford –(Glasgow Celtic)* Striker – Ian McDonald –(Largs Thistle)* Winger – Alan Knaggs –(Nottingham Forest)* Winger – Neil Gates – (LutonTown)* Trainer and First aider –Bill SelbyThe Italians won the game 5-

3, in what was a very goodmatch, which unfortunately wenever managed to repeat tothe same extent, mainly due tocontracts being ended andplayers on leave etc.The British were mainly the

Building Managers, and theItalians made up ofMechanical, and ElectricalEngineers.I would be happy to hear

from them.My e-mail address is wbuffy-

bill@aol.comWillie McIntyre

Dear Sir,This photograph wassent to me by Bill Lee exJLDA/ Temporary Works.It’s a Laing Londonrugby team that took onBlue Circle atBeckenham, we believein the very early 1970’s.Laing triumphed 5 - 0,the winning try comingfrom Bill Lee from amaul.The Laing team was, I

believe, a collection ofplayers from North andSouth London Regionsand Mill Hill. We’re all wearing our

own club shirts - no offi-cial Laing shirts wereprovided, and I think inlater games we wore

“borrowed” Mill Hill RUFCshirts. Bill Lee(Dunstablians RUFC) isthird from the right in thefront row, and fourthfrom the right (alsoDunstablians RUFC) isDavid Williams QS. Nextto him (second from left

in the front row) is, Ithink, Dave Betterton. I’mthird from the right in theback row, but as for therest, well I’m afraid thatalthough many of thefaces remain vaguelyfamiliar, the names, workplaces and occupationsare locked somewheredeep in the diminishinggrey cells of both Bill andmyself.Might readers be able to

identify themselves andothers in the photograph,and are there any otherold Laing sporting memo-ries that can be shared?

David Hemlin

Can you putnames to therugby boys?

22 23

JESPERSENREADERS’ NEWS

I was interested to read SteveMorris’s article on the computerplanning of Jespersen unit produc-tion and delivery. I perhaps hadmore involvement in the use ofthese systems than others and wasinstrumental in their abandonment.I would describe it more as anattempt run before we could walk,as I explain below. In the autumn of 1965 I had just

completed my articles with JL&Sand was seconded to theIndustrialised Building Service inoffices in Edgware. The sequenc-ing and scheduling of the units wasthe responsibility of the buildingdivision and for some reason thisprocess was running late. I wasmade responsible for the ‘armedservices’ contracts, which involvedseveral thousand units spread overseveral sites. Each unit comprisedsome six or 10 wall panels andlarger number of floor units as wellas the stairs. Each unit type had itsown number comprising two lettersand four or five numbers.Spending day after day schedulingthese units it was not surprisingthat mistakes were made.For each unit type the units could

be scheduled in four differentsequences, from left to right or thereverse and for each starting eitherat the front or back. In order to speed up the process,

as well as reducing the risk of mis-take, I decided to schedule eachunit type separately and then tophoto copy the schedule every timethat unit type and sequenceoccurred.

Once the schedules for a blockwere complete the information hadto be transferred onto punchedcards. A team of girls at Mill Hillhad the unenviable task of doingthis. Since again the chance of amistake was high the punchedcards were verified by the schedulebeing retyped on a differentmachine which compared the databeing punched with that on theexisting card.The cards so prepared formed the

input for a programme which divid-ed the units into loads andarranged the units so as to ensurethe trailer was stable at all timesespecially while being loaded andunloaded. In order to do this thecomputer had to be provided withthe weight of each unit. This infor-mation was of course a theoreticalweight and in practice was foundto err so much on the high sidethat some lorries were beingdespatched with significant sparecapacity.Early in 1966 I was offered a job

with J L Concrete, as a senior pro-duction controller. In fact thisinvolved running the productionprogrammes, which took as inputthe data prepared by the construc-tion company and converted it intoa manufacturing programme. Partof the output was a location in theyard where each unit was to beplaced. A further programme pre-pared the delivery tickets, whichindicated where each unit could befound, in the yard.To run these programmes I had

to visit a remote computer centre,

after booking a stated period ofcomputer time. When I arrived at JL Concrete not only did I need timeto master the operation of thesesystems, but the progressing ofdata was well behind schedule.The consequence was that I wasfrequently working in the smallhours when time on the computerwas nearly always available.After a while I got to realise that

much of the output I was spendingso much time and effort producingwas useless and being ignored, fora number of reasons, not least thatthe placing of units in the yard hadnever conformed to the locationssuggested by the computer. Further the system was too inflex-

ible and could not allow for prob-lems and difficulties both at thefactory and on site. It was unreal-istic to believe that such detailedplanning could be carried outremotely from site and factory.Today with desk-top computersthis may well be both possible andpractical.Before I left J L Concrete, all

these programme systems hadbeen abandoned and I was manu-ally converting the site preparedschedules into hand written deliv-ery tickets, with a very significantsaving in expensive computertime.

John McGuinness

The early days of working withJespersen and computerisation

Thank you to John McGuinness who has added his views to the disussionabout the Jespersen system run by Laing. The debate follows news that theHeygate flats at Elephant and Castle – one of the last remaining Jespersenprojects – are being pulled down. Also, the fact that this type of prefabri-cated construction technique is again proving popular, not least among

some current John Laing projects. Pictured: The Heygate estate.

Dear Sir,Back in the 1950s my fatherand his two brothersworked for John Laing Construction in the Bristolarea. They were Seamus, Joeand Bob Walsh. The latter, Bob, worked for

the Company all his workinglife. I joined the Companybriefly myself from 1976until I left to join the policeservice in 1980. My father,Seamus, worked for theCompany between 1954 and1964 when he then movedthe family back to Ireland tolive, upon being left a farmby an elderly uncle of his.My father passed away in

1991 aged 59 from a braintumour. Since then Bob hasalso passed away unfortu-nately not long after retir-ing. Joe left to work ininsurance in the 1950's.So now I am very limited to

finding out any information

about their working lives. Iwas hoping your retiredmembers might be able tohelp me out.My father was a crane driv-

er and he drove one of thethen three mobile cranesthat Laing's had at the time.He worked at BerkeleyPower Station and alsoAvonmouth docks as well asother notable projectsincluding Bristol University, where he

used a 22RB with a dragbucket. On my way homefrom school I was able toview him at work if held upto the viewing holes in thesite boarding.I am looking for any infor-

mation about the cranes heused and see if any photosof them in action exist.May I thank you in advancefor any assistance you canoffer.

Eamonn A Walsh

Can anyone help withcrane driver history?

Thank you to Welfare Officer Geoff Smithwho supplied this shot of staff at theCarlisle Office in Dalston Road.Many of the members featured here attendthe Carlisle Retirement Club. Talk about Laing people wearing well,those I know are clearly recognisable.However, we do not know all the names,so please write in if you are featured hereor if you remember the picture being takenand the occasion.

Carlisle archive

Our thanks to retireeHorrace Dodds for thispicture and article regard-ing John William Laing.Joseph Edward Beattie(1854-1902) was a stone-mason in Langholm and afriend of John Laing senior(1842-1924) with whomhe shared the same reli-gious convictions.Their sons DavidJohnstone Beattie (1881-1964) and John WilliamLaing (1879-1978), laterSir John, became boyhoodfriends and on August 22,1898, the young Beattie

commenced a mason’sapprenticeship in the mon-umental side of JohnLaing’s business, then sit-uated at the corner ofDenton Street and EastNelson Street, Carlisle.Once qualified he gainedwork experience inSunderland before return-ing to Carlisle to set uphis own business, with

financial help from theLaing family. Togetherthey negotiated the leaseof a plot of land at MurrellHill.Laing and Beattie com-menced trading in 1905and it naturally took overthe original monumentalstone business of JohnLaing which had beenestablished in 1875.

Sir John did not have thesame interest in monu-mental stonework as hisfather before him and hetook no active part in run-ning the business. In1920, he sold out to hispartner and the businesscontinued as Beattie andCompany, moving to itspresent site in Warwickroad Carlisle in 1925.In recent years David’s sonKenneth (born 1920) wasin control and I am grate-ful to him for some of theinformation contained inthis article. He sold up onhis retirement in 1982 toA and J Robertson ofAberdeen, although trad-ing continues in the nameof Beattie and Company.

Sir John marked with an ‘x’ and DavidBeattie middle row, second from the left

Early Laingbusiness

MAJOR BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES

24 25

From Emerald to Diamond

13 is lucky for some

BARBARA AND HAROLDHULSE, GOLDEN WEDDING,JUNE 13, 2012

FOR Barbara and Harold 13has always been a lucky num-ber, it was the date the couplewere married and they even

lived together at number 13.She used to sing in the vil-

lage choir and they got toknow each other when hejoined.This was in Morecambe

before moving to Wombletonin 1971.He joined Laing in 1973 as a

joiner spending 25 years withthe Company, starting atAmpleforth College. He wenton to Yorkshire region in 1984working at Scarborough hospi-tal, Goole, Scunthorpe Hospitaland ending his workingcareer at M.A.F.F. (central sci-ence laboratories)“Lookingback I enjoyed it,” he said. They have two daughters

and a son three grand chil-dren.They celebrated by taking

the family on a holiday toPembrokeshire.

GOLDEN WEDDINGS

DIAMOND WEDDINGS

28 JUNEDennis & Dorothy

Weaver

19 JULYFred and Peggy

Branwhite

2 JUNEJim & Sandra McClelland

David & MargaretBrowning

6 JUNEPat & Anne Higgins

9 JUNEEamonn and Nancy

O’Shaughnessy

16 JUNEFrank & Clodagh Murphy

Eric & Brenda London

30 JUNEJohn & Anne May

Brian & Connie Wheller

7 JULYBrian & Gloria Barham

13 JULYBill & Catherine Monahan

21 JULYGeorge & Theresa Anwell

27 JULYNoel & Francella Barnett

Ruben & Marie RoseSenior

30 JULYGraham & Olive West

The Golden girl next door

Driving to a wedding licence

LES AND GLORIA HAMMOND,GOLDEN WEDDING MARCH 24, 2012

GLORIA really was the girl next doorin Kentish Town before she and Lesmarried at St Martin’s Church inGospel Oak.Being neighbours, their families

were good friends and, as Gloriasaid, her husband-to-be did nothave far to go home when they werecourting.In 1978 Gloria joined John Laing

International in the bids depart-ment, a job which she loved.“It was so interesting getting all

the information for the bids aroundthe world,” she said. “JLI was like afamily on it own within John Laing.”Best of all, Gloria was one of the

last women on the working mumscheme run by the Company. Itmeant she could take time off in theholidays to look after her twodaughters and her salary wasworked out in such a way that itcould still be paid every month.

“It was wonderful, the office wasjust across the road from my daugh-ters’ school, I could see them com-ing out,” she added.Gloria moved on to work with

Laing Homes and ended up in LTGbefore retiring after 19 years withthe Company.She and husband Les, who was a

QS with another company, celebrat-ed their Golden Wedding with a tripto Sharm El Sheik (pictured) fol-lowed by a big family party. Theynow live in Norfolk near their twodaughters and three grandchildren.

FRANK AND VIVIANNESINNOCK GOLDENWEDDING JUNE 9, 2012

Frank and Viviannewere literally driventowards each other.She worked in her par-

ents’ shop in Bramptonand Frank used to be adriver for Army officersin Gillingham, andwould often pop in foroccasional supplies.Vivianne’s father died

early on her life andwhen Vivianne came ofage, her mother waskeen that she learn todrive. Vivianne was

mindful of the expense,but her mother sug-gested asking the ‘niceyoung driver from thearmy’ who often camein.Frank, however, taught

her too well and she

passed first time whichmeant he ran the riskof not seeing her again.Thankfully he asked

her out and they stayedtogether. Frank hadstarted with Laing in1956 and spent 39years with the Companyin total, retiring in1995 having beenEstimating Manager atHolloway White Allum.The couple have two

daughters and are cele-brating their Goldenanniversary with a tripto China where theyare going to do ‘theworks’.

Blue SapphireRoland and GladysRogers celebratedtheir Blue Sapphireanniversary onFebruary 22 this year,marking 65 years ofmarriage.

JOHN AND ALICE MCMANUSDIAMOND WEDDING JUNE 24 2012.

The couple met at a dance inDunboyne, Co. Meath, Ireland, Alice’shome town. She was 18 and John, a22-year-old joiner, came fromBlacklion, Co. Cavan, also in theEmerald Isle.They were married three years later

and moved to England where Johnjoined John Laing at the BerkeleyPower Station site in 1957.He was transferred to Manchester

where he worked on several projectsincluding hospitals, schools andoffice blocks.He retired in 1993 after 35 years’

service and with many happy memo-ries – especially the organised socialtimes including sea fishing trips.John and Alice have four children

and four grandchildren. They cele-

brated their anniversary with a week-end in Harrogate followed by a sur-prise party with family and friends.They enjoy gardening very much

and John still enjoys the odd joineryjob for the family.Being Irish Nationals, John and Alice

received their congratulatory letterfrom the President of Ireland, MichaelD Higgins.

If you would like your anniversary pictures and details published, please send or email themto Pensioner Publishing or the Laing Welfare Department at the addresses on the inside front

cover of this magazine. Ideally include info on how you met and your career with the Company

AA ssppaarrkklliinnggcceelleebbrraattiioonn

Sylvia and Frederick Clarke, DiamondWedding, June 21, 2012

The couple celebrated their anniver-sary in style as their two daughtersarranged a weekend at Sopwell House,St Albans for a family getogther as acomplete surprise.“We were thoroughly spoilt,” they said.

Hulses pictured at the LNERsummer luncheon

90th birthdayDan Doherty – May 7

26 27

WELFARE NEWS IN MEMORIAM

THERE are still many retired peoplewho have never needed or wanted touse computers, but are now lookingfor the opportunity to learn.The main problem seems to be that

most of the information required isonly available online.However there are courses all around

the country where retirees can learnthe very basics. Here we have tried to provide the

best information available to getretirees into a new world.Your local library is a good place to

start. Many have computers which canbe used for free and also run courses.For example there are around 200

computers available at Bolton librariesand a full range of courses to sign upfor covering simple writing and savingof files to basic use of the internet andemail. Contact your local authority fordetails.In 2009 Martha Lane Fox became the

Government’s digital champion andamid much fanfare an initiative waslaunched to try and get 10million peo-ple who had not used the internetonline by 2012, it was called Raceonline 2012. This has ended, claiming to have

helped 1.9million to go digital, butthe legacy lives on.Two major partners Age UK and the

BBC continue to provide a telephone

service to help people to find coursesin their own area and also to provideinformation and advice.Call Age UK's freephone number

0800 169 6565 to find your nearestAge UK/Age Concern and ask aboutlocal training opportunitiesYou can also ring BBCs' First Click

helpline to find a computer coursenear you on 08000 150 950.For those of you who have a com-

puter and are online, they providevery useful online resources.One excellent site we found run by

the BBC allows you to follow on-screeninstructions to navigate your wayaround. We tried it and, while it is verybasic, it is very informative for thosecompletely unsure about the digitalworld.

If you are wavering aboutthe relative merits ofbecoming computer liter-ate, here are a few of thebenefits:■ The ability to stay intouch with friends andrelatives all over theworld through email,even the opportunity tosee their faces as youtalk to them with simpleprogrammes like Skypewhich require no difficultprogramming.■ It can revolutioniseshopping which can nowbe done from your ownhome and the goodsdelivered to your door.This is especially helpfulfor people with limitedmobility. When you areonline it also means youcan hunt around for thebest deals on holidaysand goods – online andin shops – without havingto traipse around town. Itenables you to search forhighly specific itemswhich you might other-wise never have a chanceof finding. Finally, itmeans you can shopwhenever suits you, atany time of the day ornight.■ It will enable you dodeal with domestic adminsuch as banking, payingbills and car tax withouthaving to leave youhome.■ You can keep up withnews and catch up withentertainment pro-grammes you might havemissed on your comput-er.

Why wouldyou want acomputer?

Other sources of digital helpFOR those of you who are online andhave helpful friends and family thereis another option.If you can get a friend or relative to

set you up with computer there issome free software (for non-com-mercial users) which enables afriend or relative to work with youon your computer from their ownhome.

Teamviewer allows remote controlany computer or Mac over the internet. You can find out more or download

the software atwww.teamviewer.comThe software is used commercially

by many companies, especially by ITdepartments allowing them to logonto employees’ computers from acentral office to sort out problems.

Jim Fox, formerly a Joinerwith Mill Hill OfficeServices, died on Monday 6August 2012. He was 91and retired in 1985 after16 years’ service.

Roland Geary, formerlyDirector of OfficeTechnology, ECL, died onTuesday, 31 July 2012. Hewas 83 and retired in 1986after 31 years’ service.

John Green, formerly aSenior ProductivityController with John LaingConstruction, ChilternRegion, died on Tuesday, 5June 2012. He was 91 andretired in 1985 after 50years’ service.

John Taylor, formerlySecurity Officer with LaingProperties, died onSaturday, 14 April 2012.He was 86 and retired in1989 after 16 years’ serv-ice.

David Zapp, formerly aConstruction Manager withHolloway White Allom, diedon Monday, 21 May 2012.He was 81 and retired in1992 after 15 years serv-ice.

Jan Zurawski, formerly atPlasterer with JLC, LondonRegion, died on Monday 6August 2012. He was 88and retired in 1988 after32 years’ service.

Retiree website serviceswill be extended soonSOME retirees have been experi-encing a few problems with theLaingpastandpresent website,but this is only temporary whilethe system is being updated.The provides a host of useful

information and services.Once logged in, users send

messages to other Laingretirees who have registered,securely, without compromisingeither party’s contact details.The logging in is simple. Just

go to the website (www.laingpa-standpresent.co.uk) and enter your emailaddress and provide a pass-word. Use something you willnot forget for your password.Once you enter these details,

you will be sent an email which

will give you details of how tolog in.The website is about to be

improved. In the meantime con-tinue using the site as normal,and every effort will be mandeto ensure that there will be theminimum possible disruption.

Guide to gettingyourself online…

The current screen for loggingon to laingpastandpresent

Here are ten websites which cansave you lots of time and effort inseeking help and information:

www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.ukTel: 0845 601 2923Free information and guidance onpensions.

www.directgov.ukGovernment information and servic-es clearly laid out.

www.ageuk.org.ukTel: 0800 169 6565Information and advice for the elder-ly about benefits, care, age discrimi-nation and computer courses.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Providing free independent and con-fidential advice on legal, financialand other problems.

www.carersuk.orgTel: 0808 808 7777Helping carers and their families.

www.alzheimer’s.org.ukTel: 0845 300 0336Help and advice regarding dementia.

www.eac.org.ukTel: 0800 377 70 70Elderly Accommodation Counsel:information, guidance and adviceon care and housing for older peo-ple.

www.cqc.org.ukTel: 03000 616161Care Quality Commission site pro-vides details and reviews of carehomes around the country.

www.patients-association.comTel:0845 608 4455Healthcare charity fighting for therights of patients.

www.contact-the-elderly.org.ukTel: 0800 716543Organising Sunday afternoon tea-parties for people over 75 who livewith little or no social support.

Really useful places online