Robin (Bob) Nutley

My Story

By Bob Nutley

Early Days

In December 1938,  two sisters were in the Maternity Ward at Brighton General Hospital, the eldest expecting her 4th child, and my Mum, the youngest, expecting her second. My cousin Mary was born on the 4th, and I arrived on the 7th. Hello World!

We lived at 29 Bevendean Crescent, and I went to Moulsecoombe Infants and Junior schools, then in 1950 to Varndean Grammar School for Boys, where I stayed for 5 years. After leaving , I worked at the Dreadnought Garage & Motor Engineering Works, 21A Ship Street, Brighton, ordering spares for all Austin cars in Sussex.

At 19, I was called up for National Service in the R.A.F. After doing a shortened basic training, I was in the Queens Colour Squadron, based at Uxbridge for London duties, and then posted to North Germany in the R.A.F. Regiment for the 20 months remaining.

On return to ‘civvy life’ I worked for the GPO Telephones spending 7 years on external duties – underground, overhead & fitting telephones in houses, offices & factories. For the next 25 years, I worked as the engineer for the Regional Public Relations Group covering the south eastern corner of England, up from Bournemouth, Dorchester to southern Oxfordshire. I did the exhibition work & also moved the mobile show vehicles.

After redundancy, I worked for 2 years for Manpower, a jobs agency, working at a couple of dozen firms, and then 2 years as a porter at Boots, Clock Tower store. I finished my quota of working life doing day or longer driving jobs, some of them to the continent.

Family Life 

            I married Betty in December 1970, and in October the next year, our son Philip was born. Michael came along 2 years, 8 months later, both 10 lbs. and long babies. Congratulations! Betty.

            For our holidays, we went camping in the U.K., first with a borrowed tent, then our own trailer tent, and to France, before the boys were old enough to go on their own holidays.

            Once they were settled in jobs in Holland and the U.S.A., we purchased a small extending roof caravan, and visited half-a-dozen European countries, on long holidays as it was cheaper to live there than the U.K. Betty has made many friends, and one area we love is south eastern France, so we now leave the caravan on the farm during the winter, and use it for about 18 weeks a year, sometimes towing, but otherwise staying on the site.

            We now have 2 grand-daughters by Phil & his wife Rosely, who comes from Sao Paulo, Brazil (A city of 41 million people), and 2 grand-sons in Amsterdam with Mike and Ola (from Opole, Southern Poland.) A multi-cultural family, we are so fortunate & blessed, if I have the grand-children I bless when they wind me up in their mother tongue!  I’m a millionaire really!

Bygones  

            I had taken a cutting from the Argus about the group for Moulsecoombe & Whitehawk, ex-pupils, and when a while later, I came to Whitehawk to go to the meeting, found that no-one knew of it, even the whole of the EB4U office. As I was walking away, a lady called after me, she had found Fred Netley’s phone number. “He’ll know”. I called Fred & he told me the meeting day had been changed, but would look out for me at the next meeting, so other than my long holidays I’ve been going there ever since.