Final Days as an Apprentice.

[John]

About our second year as apprentices we were told the NCB was to introduce four year apprenticeships, from 16 yrs to 20 yr olds. We were to have ours reduced by several months if we passed a final practical exam as well as complete our academic studies.
We were asked to carry out some practical tests at the training centre so as they could assess the time needed for the tests.

We found out that the NCB were not too happy with the practical standards being achieved by some apprentices, even though they achieved high academic pass rates in exams.
So were going to introduce annual practical tests, and all apprentices were going to have to pass these exams to go on to the next year of their apprenticeships.

We were lucky, we were too far into our training to have to comply with the new conditions, all but the final test!

Mid 1968 we had a note left on our clocking in cards to report to Bentinck training centre at so and so time Monday morning for our final practical exam.
None of us, a group of around ten who had started together and been in the same classes all the way through, knew what to expect!

We arrived, donned our overalls and the Instructor set us all out in the class room, which was full of mining electrical equipment.
"Right" he said" Imagine the face is broke down, the AFC won't start, your job is to find the fault and get the job running, have a look around, you have a megger here, I'll be back in a minute or two to see how you are progressing"
Hmm, I looked at my motor and found a wad of wire wool stuck up the socket!
Anyway, we all went through the day and all found the faults, did the annual exams etc and thought we had all passed.
WRONG!! The Instructor told everyone that we had all failed miserably!
We'd have to come back and do the test in a months time.
So we asked what we had done wrong.
"Well," he said "Technically, all but a couple of you haven't done anything wrong, in fact I found a pretty high level of expertise among all of you"
"BUT" "What I want, is for you to tell me, stroke for stroke what you are doing, for instance, if you are going to knock power off of a HT circuit, what are the steps you'd take"?

Next month.... "Right, you have an annual exam of a HT cable going to 54's district, what are you going to do"?
"First I call the district Deputy to arrange to disrupt his power and why and for how long, after he has given me permission, I make out a permit to work for myself and sign it, then I isolate the OCB, withdraw the breaker, drop the covers and lock them with my personal lock and put a danger tag on the breakers isolator. If the isolator has a grounding switch, close it, then undo the bolts on the cable and pull it out etc etc.
Once done, follow the reverse procedure.
We all passed that time and within a week were all on full craftsmen wages.
In fact the Instructor told all of us we had passed with flying colours, well above what was expected of us.

[eleceng]

John, interesting reading about Bentink T.C. Can you remember Frank Culley T.C. manager & Keith Parrot, instructor? I worked with them at Bestwood.

[John]

Aug 25, 2015 5:15:09 GMT -5 eleceng said:

John, interesting reading about Bentink T.C. Can you remember Frank Culley T.C. manager & Keith Parrot, instructor? I worked with them at Bestwood.

No, sorry Mick, it was the first time I'd been to the training centre, prior to that it was Hucknall No1 I had to go.
Hucknall was closed under the reorganization.
As we didn't know how to carry the final practical tests, all of us failed it and had to turn up a month later to retake the tests, we were the first apprentices to have to take that test, we all failed the second time too! Wasn't because we didn't know what we were doing, as the instructor told us, he explained what he expected after the test.
Next time we all passed the test, he expected a running commentary as to what we were doing, ie, a feeder cable annual exam, insulation and continuity test. "call the district Deputy to arrange to knock power off, proceed to isolate after getting permission, withdraw breaker, place safety shield across sockets of pedestal, place personal lock on same, use a safety tag, write out personal permit to work" etc.

Once I'd completed the final practical trade exam, that was last time I visited Bentinck training centre.

[eleceng]

I remember Pete Hunter, failed his 1st practical. I was surprised as he was a very good apprentice. I phoned Keith & asked why? He said the usual reasons. No attention to detail.

I arranged for him to retake it a couple of weeks later. Gave him a bollocking, so he went back & passed. No problem.

[John]

Aug 25, 2015 5:54:57 GMT -5 eleceng said:

I remember Pete Hunter, failed his 1st practical. I was surprised as he was a very good apprentice. I phoned Keith & asked why? He said the usual reasons. No attention to detail.

I arranged for him to retake it a couple of weeks later. Gave him a bollocking, so he went back & passed. No problem.

It wasn't a case of us not knowing Mick, as the Instructor pointed out, we hadn't been told how to get through the test, in fact I recall him giving all of us a pat on the back for the way we handled the tests, just that he "wanted to know, from verbal comments, how we'd do the job"

One test we did, he took me to a coal cutter motor, it had a cable plugged into it, he said something like "You have a breakdown on a coal cutter, the face is standing, and the Deputy is jumping up and down and screaming, just have a look around it, while I set the other lads up with their jobs, I'll be back in a minute"
I proceeded to pull the cable plug, found a large wad of steel wool in the BS socket shorting the three phases and pilot pins out.

He came back so I proceeded to go through the safety aspects of the job, what I'd do etc and said "oh, some idiot had put some steel wool in the socket"

"err that was me, that was the fault, OK, passed that test, on to next test"
That was the third attempt by all of us, and he congratulated all of us after we'd completed, all had a 100% pass rate.
He told us all, that if we'd conducted ourselves in the first test the same as the last one, we'd have all passed back then.
John Booth, Lou and another Geordie apprentice from Cotgrave were all in the same class as myself.

A few of years earlier, at Hucknall training centre, we were told that the Board were introducing four year apprenticeships in the near future, and our five years would be reduced by a few months.
They also told us the Board would be introducing annual practical tests for apprentices, finishing with a practical trade test in the final year of apprentices.
They wanted us to do a timed 1st year trade test mock up to see how we would perform, and assured us it would not go on our training records. So we obliged them, we never heard anymore about that until we got the note for the traing officer at Cotgrave to attend Bentinck for the final practical trade test. We must have been on the very first one tried out, they learned the flaws as we had.

[boaz]

If it's the same Keith Parrot, he was Sales Manager at Communication & Control in Calverton then went as Sales Manager at Steadfast in Hucknall. Last I heard of Keith was his 70th birthday party a few years ago and quite a few of his colleagues attended. I worked for him for a few years at CCE.

[eleceng]

Hi Boaz, yes it is the same guy. Worked with him for 6 years before I moved to Cotgrave.

[boaz]

Keith interviewed me for a sales/service engineers post. My first ever interview, I was a bag of nerves. We were SIVAD face signals, Keith got a schematic drawing out and said trace out the lockout circuit, the most simplest of questions. I couldn't do it but said I would know for the next interview. I got the second interview and the job on that comment and apologised for the nerves and explained. Good bloke was Keith and I left CCE just after he left. Other people from Notts area were Bob Bardill (Calverton), Fred Renshaw (Hucknall)

[eleceng]

Yeah, Keith was a great guy. We worked on the same shift for a few years. A few of us used to go on the town regularly had some wild fun times, especially at Christmas booze up LOL.

 Remember Bob & Fred. Can't remember the boss's name though. He used to lecture at Tech. college. Think it may have been Barry? 

[smshogun]

Pete Hunter made assistant also Steve Fisher at the same time. Found Pete to be a bit of a bullnutster or blagger depending on your choice of words, he could talk the talk but not walk the walk.

[eleceng]

Yes, Pete had a tendency to be that way, but his heart was in the right place. I had him as my apprentice when I was on the tools. One day he came to work & told me he was packing up college & taking just the craftsman test. I gave him hell for a month to no avail. Many years later, we were on a Saturday afternoon power job which involved phasing out a ring main at end. Pete asked me if he could stay in pit bottom sub & help me with the task. I said OK. During the time we were waiting for outbye phone calls, he asked if there was any chance of going back to college. He was full of regret that he hadn't listened to me all those years ago. I said I would have a word with Mike Need. Consequently he went back to college & got his Engineers ticket.

Steve & Pete were on my development & installation team. Brian Payne (sadly no longer with us) was my chargeman along with Geoff Savidge, Pete Spence & 2 more who's names I can't remember.

A great team. All had backs of steel plates to avoid back stabbing. Days reg team so they got some stick from shift men. Would go through a brick wall for me. Great memories !!!

Pete was assistant at Asfordby when I went there as surface elec, contracting after redundancy. Don't know where Steve went.

[John]

Jan 1, 2016 15:25:35 GMT -5 eleceng said:

Yes, Pete had a tendency to be that way, but his heart was in the right place. I had him as my apprentice when I was on the tools. One day he came to work & told me he was packing up college & taking just the craftsman test. I gave him hell for a month to no avail. Many years later, we were on a Saturday afternoon power job which involved phasing out a ring main at end. Pete asked me if he could stay in pit bottom sub & help me with the task. I said OK. During the time we were waiting for outbye phone calls, he asked if there was any chance of going back to college. He was full of regret that he hadn't listened to me all those years ago. I said I would have a word with Mike Need. Consequently he went back to college & got his Engineers ticket.

Steve & Pete were on my development & installation team. Brian Payne (sadly no longer with us) was my chargeman along with Geoff Savidge, Pete Spence & 2 more who's names I can't remember.

A great team. All had backs of steel plates to avoid back stabbing. Days reg team so they got some stick from shift men. Would go through a brick wall for me. Great memories !!!

Pete was assistant at Asfordby when I went there as surface elec, contracting after redundancy. Don't know where Steve went.

I was a college drop out Mick, Eric was prepared to send me for the oral before the Mines Qualifications Board, but I'd already made my mind up to leave the industry.
Didn't hold me back though, both British Gypsum and Cleveland Potash made a good electrician out of me. I was even made a Leading hand at Angus Place Colliery in NSW, and the previous employer was about to do the same, I was walking the main HV cables and learning where all the subs were underground, plus other things the engineer required of me.
To be honest, even if I'd stayed at college, I don't think it would have made me a better electrician.
I was contemplating taking the Mine Electricians course down under, but regular nights kind of put me off it. That would have been the engineers ticket, I'd have had to have taken some refresher courses before I embarked on that route too.