Before retiring I spent about 55 years in the building industry. I passed my City & Guilds in bricklaying in 1970 and worked on schools, blocks of flats, houses, public buildings, extensions etc. Some of the work was for sub-contractors and for a number of years I had my own 4 & 2 gang.

In 1979 I was able purchase some land and build five houses, 4 of which were sold on.
Purchased land and built a luxury house, circa 1983, Manor Road.
Purchased a 300 year old barn and converted it into 4 houses, circa 1984, all of which were sold on.
Following that I built many extensions,

I was a partner in a builders merchants for a number of years and also a plant hire business which we started from scratch with one massey ferguson excavator and built the business up over the years, employing drivers to operate the plant, excavators (8) and to drive the lorries.

For 25+ years I provided an architectural service which involved planning and building regulation applications, which included houses, flats, annexes, extensions such as porches, loft conversions, etc.