The gas man
Gas work in South Oxhey
By Phil
I was working in South Oxhey from 1980 to 1986 for British Gas. The biggest problem I had working there was that the jobs used to take twice as long as anywhere else because by the time you had had 2 cups of tea and a slice of cake and listened to old stories about the war, an extra hour had gone out of your day.
Down to earth Londoners
It was like working in your grandparents house. They were real down to earth Londoners. They were never phased by problems with the boiler or the cooker. Compared to what they had already lived through, it wasn’t as important.
“Never mind love, tomorrow will do”.
They had a better perspective on life, no need to make a hoo-hah out of it. Today people can’t wait 15 minutes, let alone until the next day. I got more tips in South Oxhey than in Moor Park as well.
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My Dad worked at Watford gas and coke in the sixties. My memories are of him coming home after whatever shift he worked smelling awful and dirty. My brother Steve got a job there in the early seventies just as town gas was being converted to natural gas. I joined in1976 and worked for thirty eight years. A lot of mates from South Oxhey also joined around the same time.
The old gas works was opposite where i worked, Monaco garage, Vauxhall dealership petrol sation and work shop, it was a great place to work, great staff laughter every day, it was between a pub and old margs cafe best fried egg sandwiches, dont suppose any of these business are now there.
Seeing the picture of the ‘Gasometer’, and title ‘The gas Man’, reminded me of the ‘Gas works’ near ‘Bushey Arches’. We would take our wheelbarrow their on a Saturday morning to obtain either cheap coke, or take an empty can for filling with ‘Creosote’. ‘Creosote’ was popular then for treating wooden fences. Probably a health hazard now !
I moved with family in 1948 when I was 13 years old. No pavements, no shops, no pubs, no schools, etc. etc. A nightmare but we loved living by the railway line and spent hours taking train numbers. First time we had had indoor plumbing, hot water and boys and girls separate bedrooms.