Ian Lallow on Boatbuilding

Tracy: So, what were your duties or responsibilities and what were the working conditions in each of those roles?

Well the duties, you turned up on time first thing in the morning and you did a good eight hours a day work. You had an hour off for lunch and although you were the Boss’s son, you weren’t treated any differently. You had to be there on time, and you didn’t leave until a quarter past five in the evening.

Conditions, well, they were pretty basic in those days. I mean there was no central heating or hot air fans or anything like that and in the winter it can be pretty bloody cold.

In the summer, you were working outside because we used to build boats during the winter and during the summer you were maintaining boats. Hauling them up, launching and running around afloat so in summer it was lovely.

You were out there in the sun although having said that it can be pretty terrible in the summer sometimes, when it’s blowing and raining, but that’s something you had to put up with.