Leaving School – teach yourself how to type

I lived in a council house on the ring road in Liverpool (Queens Drive) – and had very supportive parents (although I might not have thought so at the time). I went to a Catholic Boys’ Grammar School, St Francis Xavier’s – I and was very religious (up until the moment I was 18 – and then never went to church again!).

By the age of 18, I was sick and tired of academic life – and just wanted to get on and work. I was the only boy in our sixth form not to apply to go to University. I had the grades – but decided to undertake a vocational course in Press Photography for a year. Before that, I’d had to make some difficult career decisions. I had a large model railway set and thought a career as an engineer might be interesting. Tempered with that, I had a keen interest in photography. Luckily, I decided to sell my model railway set – and buy a better camera!

Once I’d decided to follow a career as a press photographer, I really did not apply myself to A Level studies. I could not see the relevance. However, I did want to learn relevant skills – and I made one of the best decisions of my life … to learn how to touch type. I spent many hours (when I should have been revising for my A Levels) sitting at my sister’s old typewriter in my room teaching myself to type. It’s a skill I still use today – and think it’s essential for any youngster to learn. I am sure that access to computer keyboards will make it a more natural skill for this generation of youngsters.

In pursuing my love of photography – the dream was to be able to photograph Liverpool FC at Anfield. It was virtually impossible to get access as a photographer (still is today). A friendly photographer at the Liverpool Echo tipped me off that a paper called “The News Line” wanted a photographer to shoot the first 10 minutes of each match on colour film – in return for a photographer’s pass. “The News Line” is the newspaper of the Workers Revolution Party (WRP) – and at the time was the only colour daily newspaper in the UK. I didn’t ever read the paper – but was always very proud of my colour picture on the back page after a Liverpool or Everton match. One of the pictures I took – of a fan with a dart in his neck – ended up being named on of the 100 best football pictures of all time. I bet the WRP would be surprised at the help they gave to my career!

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