My family are connected to the docks, for two reasons. My grandma was general trader with fruit business and my grandad sold horses to all the business that worked there. After the war there was a shortage of them so he imported them from France. They were used to move things on the dock for say the fruiters and veg folks and deliver goods across and around the city. If you didn’t have a horse you’d have a barrow and pull it by hand. I guess they were the service industry in many ways.
Me I did 30 years working offshore for BP Gas and that on the rigs. I got into because my fried. Budgie was doing it and I could see the money he was earning. I wanted to earn money to buy a house. Me dad and that were rag and bone-ing but it wasn’t a stable income. I was 24 when I first went off. I wanted to achieve more I guess. At first you think you are missing out – your mates are all out and doing things. But life happens when you get off. You realise people are also doing boring things. The job bought me freedom
I did 6 years then a break of 5 when I went to college and then 13 years. I would get a train to places for the heliport – depended on which rig I was going. So it could be Aberdeen or great Yarmouth. You’d check in and then they would fly you out in a helicopter maybe 20 or 45 mins journey. I took those amazing journeys for granted in the end. We had to do survival courses about how to escape a helicopter, first aid and of course how to deal with fires. Piper Alpha disaster in 1988 happened while I was working.
I’ve only had 2 panic attacks in my life and one was about getting on one of the helicopters. Caused when I was meant to be going from rig to beach. In the cabin was this massive guy which made me think I wouldn’t be able to get out if it ditches. They took me off and put me on another flight. Sometimes you don’t realise the stress you’re under in these jobs. I guess it did give me anxiety. You put all your faith in the pilots that they safe.
The first time I went offshore it was to Easingfield for BP Gas. It was a 25-minute flight to West Sole in the North Sea. I worked on Rough Fields in Viking Gas Fields too. A rig is about ¼ mile wide and as high as Nelson Column above the water. Since Piper Alpha the safety was a lot better. And any spill – even tiny ones get recorded and sent to government. Though I was on the Gas rigs.
It was weird at first you spend 2 weeks with people you don’t know and then by the end you all close but when you go back to shore you don’t see them until you back to the rig. I liked the comradery it felt like a family. You found out about peoples passions and hobbies and home like that wasn’t work. All these things that the good money they earned paid for.
To work on a rig you have to have the right mental attitude. It’s not for everyone, you have to feed off the energies of the place and have resilience – get on with the job. You can’t of course walk off at any point, you have to be tolerant and accept life goes on. It was physically and mentally demanding. I worked in catering and it was 12-hour shifts for 2 weeks on and now I think I couldn’t do what I did then. I am a dreamer in that I can go into my imagination and often I would be thinking about photos or what I wanted to organise around them. I saw amazing stuff on the rig – Aurora Borealis, sunsets dawns, unbelievable beautiful things. Also I liked the solitude sometimes, it was good for me head to think. While you were away it helped you focus on other stuff. You get ideas. This would help me do those long hours and be away. It does affect your relationships and your life. But I think it’s harder for women who stay at home and have to deal with kids and everyday stuff. My wife then looked after my daughter and did all the extra stuff.
It is good money, but the scaffolders and mechanics on those things really earnt the cash. And guys get into that and get trapped – they call it trappings don’t they?! The money gives you a life that you then have to service. Private school, cars, expensive wives… they lived beyond their means. But everything has a price. I was brought up to save up for things, so I didn’t have that problem. Although with my wife’s good job it did enable me to put my daughter through Hymers – I used to look at the money going out every month and think wow… but. she was bright and they said she should go. At the time I kept saying it was against my principles but she’s got a great job in London now – I’m proud now.
Education failed me, I was interested and observant, but they didn’t get it. I wanted better for me self. I guess this work also got me away from my family – me mam and dad. None of them had any history or had done anything like this. I knew I had to get out of Hull. There was no work and I wanted to earn and do things. I think if I was honest I was going to only do it short term, I could have never imagined it would have taken the best part of my working life. The other choices for work in Hull was casual labour and not regular. I also wanted to make me Mam proud that I’d done something. My sister went to university and got a good job. She always misses Hull and wants to come back but what with family dynamics and the fact she’s got a good place on South coast. People romanticise it when they don’t live here. They have a rosy view of the fishing industry and 3-day millionaire stuff. But there was so much poverty and broken legs and hard lives.
