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Old Cambrian Society |
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Old Cambrian Society |
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The following was Tom's entry in the Alumni section of this web site prior to his death:
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| Nickname: | Tom |
| House: | Grigg |
| Years: | 1942-1944 |
Memories of School: My 10 years of schooling were all in Kenya and have served me very well. The war was on when I was due to go to the PoW so, as a Nairobi resident and day boy, I cycled the five miles to a Standard 6 at the Nairobi Primary where there were sand bags around the school for a short time in case it was bombed by the Italians. Forms 1,2 & 3 were at the PoW campus after the boarders returned from the evacuation site at Naivasha. I was almost two years younger than the average age of the class so found it difficult to be part of the sports and social groups. Being a day boy ("stinker") didn't help. I did not enjoy, or do well among my peers in sports, except for the annual five mile cross country race, where small size helped. My schooling ended with a Cambridge School Certificate with London Matric Exemption at the end of Form 3, some months before my 16th birthday. After the last exam in Form 3 left the School at about 4pm on my bicycle with a haversack and cycled solo around the Aberdare range staying overnight, mostly with friends or relatives, at Limuru, Gilgil, Thomson Falls, Rumuruti, Nanyuki, Karatina and back home to Burnbrae near Nairobi. Since leaving School: I started work as a pupil to the municipal engineer of Nairobi for four years 1945 to 1949, with study by correspondence courses for exams for under the auspices of the Institution of Civil Engineers of the UK a process that took me 10 years to become a Chartered Civil Engineer. During this 10 years I rapidly was given more responsibility which cut into study time. I worked for a year on the construction of the Ruiru Dam for the Nairobi Water Supply and later in my teens was the Clerk of Works on widening a small bridge and later the start of a filter plant , pump station and pipe line from the Nairobi Dam. For two years I worked for my father's company Stirling & Scott Ltd, doing mostly water supply works. My annual vacation was to attend two Kenya Regiment training camps at Athi River. One engineering project was the design and construction management for a fish farm near Sagana Station, probably the first fish farm in the world for tilapia of which there are now many. I took a year off to catch up on my exams, commencing in 1951, in Scotland and came to Canada in May 1953. In Canada I have worked in for consulting engineers in Toronto and Montreal with projects in Newfoundland and one winter on James Bay in Northern Ontario. In 1956 I moved to Vancouver where I have worked for a total of 22 years in interesting and demanding jobs with three local governments, with increased responsibilities in each case. Following that for the next 12 years, from Vancouver, I took on some interesting international projects, taking me to short or long stays in Ethiopia, Indonesia, Egypt, Thailand and Equador. Early days in Canada were a struggle but subsequently I have been well rewarded, both financially and socially. I married a Canadian in 1963, and we have 2 children and three young grandchildren. Retired professionally, my hobbies are playing in a Vancouver Scottish Fiddle Orchestra which I helped to found, and I am a partner in a fish farm, now a sizeable operation raising the fresh water stage of salmon before they go to the sea farms . Both these interests had their origin in Kenya where I had a year of violin lessons and later in my work on the fish farm at Sagana. (Registered 24th June 2004) |
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