Bob Weedon
From his home in Mount Boone, Bob Weedon has a mesmerising view of the mouth of the Dart. A powerful telescope helps him study every craft that comes into port - here is a man who knows boats.
And he should, after a career of building them – a career that has finally drawn to a close after 56 years working on the River Dart. He confessed: “I really do have mixed feelings about this.”
Bob started work for boat builders Philip and Son, at Noss, when he left school. He went from ship’s plater to director, and although semi-retired from 1999, continued working with the Higher Ferry.
He was 15 when, in 1954, he sought a job as store boy for Philip and Son. Born in 1939 in number 10 Northford Road, Bob was the youngest of 10 children – five sisters and four brothers. The baby of the family was wheeled happily around the town by his sisters until he was old enough to escape to the woods with his friends – for hours on end.
“We used to be off from dawn till dusk down to Old Mill Woods or up to Dyers Hill. We’d fill a wheelbarrow with potatoes, wheel it out to Compass Cove and cook them on a fire. No-one ever worried, although one time my brother was sent to fetch me because it was about ten o’clock at night. It was when we were on double summer time. It was still light – I didn’t have a clue.
“We played in the derelict huts on Coronation Park, left by the Americans after the war. But Guy Fawkes night was the best. There would be rival bonfires – one in Bayards Cove, one at the Dirty New Ground, where the town car park is now. It was called dirty because it was where they put all the ash from the gasworks, and when the fair came and you spent the day walking around down there you’d be filthy right the way up your legs. We had our bonfire there and we spent months gathering stuff to burn, but you never made up the fire until November 5th because if you did, the other gang would come along and burn the lot! We used to stash all ours at the back of the Bell in Newport Street, and try to set fire to theirs’ before they could.”
Bob’s large family came to the rescue when, at 16, he asked for an apprenticeship: “Philips had taken on all their apprentices for the year, but because my father had worked there and I had three brothers there, I was given a five year apprenticeship as a ships plater. I never left. The only break was when I did two years’ National Service with the Devon and Dorset Regiment.
“I was extremely lucky to have good people around me all the time and I loved being on the shop floor. My first stroke of luck was working with a man called George Porter. We built minesweepers together - he would always leave me a really nasty bit to finish off. Then when he came back the next day he would check it and I’d have to re-do it if it wasn’t right. I learned a lot from him. We built lightships, minesweepers, tugs – all sorts.”
Bob was promoted up through the ranks but couldn’t keep away from the shop floor, preferring hands on work to management and inspections. With so many antics going on, it wasn’t just the work but the comradeship he loved.
“We had a lot of fun. You could do everything in the yard – even have your hair cut. We used to have concerts at lunchtimes. One apprentice sang like Al Jolson, others played music on saws, there were boxing matches. We had a lot of Geordies working with us - great blokes, but if you had a Geordie on one side and someone broad Devon on the other you had to be an interpreter! The yard was full of cats and if ever one fell asleep on a plank or girder you’d find a speech bubble drawn beside it and some funny comment written in chalk.”
Bob is still saddened by the day the yard was closed: “It changed the whole character of the river. All those skills have now been lost. It was terribly sad.”
He came off the board but remained Group Technical Advisor, keeping the old Higher Ferry running. He worked on the design of the new ferry from day one – a three year project that saw the Higher Ferry take up its position on the Dart last year. Bob visited Holland four times to see it being manufactured, and went to Falmouth every other week as it was fitted out. He’s immensely proud of the efficient new model.
Bob married Betty 12 years ago in Mauritius after being “set up” by friends. The couple enjoy long haul holidays and are particularly fond of the USA which they visit regularly, most recently as the only Brits at a Blue Grass Festival.
The couple share their home with two British shorthair cats, a tortoise, tropical and freshwater fish, and 60 birds. Bob’s aviary is his pride and joy and he shows his finches and canaries as far afield as Bristol and Cornwall - he is particularly proud of his Peking Robin!
So could retirement mean heading for pastures new? Maybe: “Betty has a son and grandchildren in Bristol, my two children and six grandchildren live near here, so we may move somewhere smaller, in between the two.“I’ll miss my workmates, the camaraderie and having those good people around me. But maybe being retired means trying something new. We’ll see…”
First Published May 2010 By The Dart
