1958. After 1 year working at the Coop the Departmental Manager offered me promotion onto the Administrative Section, leaving the shops and moving into the Departmental Office at the Abattoir. This involved the receiving of meats in from the docks, other abattoirs etc. checking their quality & weight, recording all these, allocating where these deliveries should go in the massive freezers etc. Then the reverse of this when the meats were sent out to the various shops, the Coop had nearly 60 shops of their own as well as other Coops we supplied.

I obviously did not do all this on my own { even though it did feel like it sometimes } there were 4 of us in the office in total. I also started attending night school in Manchester for Butchery Qualifications - this actually terminated with me sitting the City & Guilds exam in London on 4 th April 1962, I had to take it in London because I got married the on last Saturday in March 1962 and I did not want to come all the way back from London to Manchester for 1 day so I managed to get the exam transferred to St John’s Wood College.

1960. I had bought a new Camera - from my ill-gotten winnings at playing 9 card Brag during the lunchtimes at the Coop in the Canteen. So I was busy taking photos of everyone and everything - this was Maureen taken at home.

1960. Maureen relaxing in the garden, and then crossing the stile at Otterspool Park.

We were very active, we did a lot of walking and cycling - we both had bicycles and we even had a Tandem for a while.