Many people reflect on their early adulthood with a sense of fondness. Remembering old school friends, long summers and that inevitable first job and the paycheck that came with it. At the time, it can seem like those people with whom you are sharing your experiences will always be close, but as we all know, life can get in the way and cause people to drift apart.
For Phil, it was close to 50 years since he had left school and joined the then Merseyside & North Wales Electricity Board as a craft apprentice when he started thinking about his 76 colleagues and where they had ended up.
Phil took on the task of reaching out to some of his old crew. With a healthy dose of patience and the help of the records on 192.com, he managed to find a handful of the lads. Then the momentum picked up. Phil explained “with the help of some photographs taken on the day that we all commenced work, around 40 names were placed against the pictures. As expected, it brought some heartaches as during making enquires and phone calls we were informed that some had sadly passed on. Undaunted, we pressed on…”
Fifty-one years after they met, eighteen of the original 77 caught up over a couple of drinks just down the road from the training centre where their paths had initially crossed. Of the eighteen included a mate who travelled from Calgary, Canada for the occasion! Phil shared with us that “the 192.com system has been invaluable in bringing together once again these ex Manweb Apprentices.”
Now the “The Manweb Boys of ‘66”, as they call themselves (a homage to the famous England World Cup squad who won the converted trophy in 1966!) try to catch up three or so times a year, and they’re still tracking down old mates. Earlier in 2019, they found a further three of their growing cohort.
The lads are still on the lookout for some of their old crew, so if you or someone you know was a craft apprentice at the Merseyside & North Wales Electricity Board back in 1966, we’re sure Phil and the “Manweb Boys” would be delighted to hear from you.
If 192.com has helped you reunite with someone, we would love to hear about it. Drop us an email to feedback@192.com with “Reunion Story” in the subject line and tell us all about it. Like Phil, you could end up featuring on the 192.com blog.