I can remember going to White Hart Lane, getting in there, standing on the bank, for 2 and sixpence, in about 1953, 54.

Then I served a 6-year apprenticeship and then I had to go in the RAF for two years. That was an education!

It was on a squadron that they called the conversion squadron. We used to get Gloster Javelin aircraft from Gloster’s. We used to clear up any faults, rectify the faults, and then send the list to the Glosters before they put the aircraft in operation, plus the fact it was a display team as well.

We had four shifts: in the hangar there was a day shift and night shift, and then outside there was a night shift and a day shift that they used to rotate – one week they were on nights, the next week they were on days. So we used to work from 5 o'clock at night till 5 o'clock in the morning, with an hour’s break at midnight, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, then we used to have to go in at 2 o'clock on a Friday, because the day shift used to knock off at 3 o'clock. And as soon as we got 12 aircrafts fully fuelled and fully serviceable ready for Monday morning, we could go home, so some weekends we didn't go home till Saturday morning.

In the RAF you used to get £3.45 a week and you had to pay for your razor blades, shaving soap, writing pads, envelopes, stamps, boot polish, and your bus fare and train fare.