My Life Part 2

After my return home from my wanderings I worked in many jobs, went hill walking and camping at the weekends often in the company George Lawrence and Billy Boyd when eventually he returned to the UK. And many other friends I got friendly with Jimmy Wolf. Jimmy who was a welder had an ambition to build a steel hull yacht he got space in the defunct Atlas locomotive workshop in Springburn Glasgow and started to construct his 40 foot steel hull yacht. I started working with him in his father’s central heating business. Jimmy’s ambition was fulfilled when two years later when he launched his yacht. He berthed it in Bowling on the Forth & Clyde canal. Weekends were now spent sailing. Jimmy had a girl friend in South Africa she came over and Jimmy and Ana got married, Ana soon produced twin boys.
After some time Jimmy and Ana decided to sail to South Africa and I could go with them. So we set off with plans to sail round the world. We set off from West Loch Tarbet crossing the Irish Sea to Donaghadee in Ireland, crossed to Milford Haven, Plymouth crossing the English Channel to Brest in France. Where I decided to leave Jimmy and Ana I hitchhiked to Spain. After a time my funds were running low. I travelled back to find work in France.  I arrived in Bordeaux hoping to pick grapes for wine making. I went to the Labour Exchange but they would not entertain me as I did not have a work permit. (This was before European Common market) but French students came to my aid. They went on strike! Till I was allowed to work with them after two hours the exchange gave in and gave me a permit work.
After the grape picking finished I returned to Spain. While staying in a Youth Hostel Jimmy Hendrix died a Spanish boy staying there got very upset. I liked Hendrix but did not get unduly bothered. I lived for a while in Santiago de Compostela. This is a pilgrimage centre and has the most fantastic cathedral, and has a university. I met some students who found me very cheap accommodation by telling the landlord I was a student. One day medical students took me to a catacomb were they could buy human bones for study. After a time with my funds running low I headed for the port of Vega where a ferry service ran to Southampton. The sail across the notoriously stormy Bay of Biscay was interesting as it was living up to its reputation and a big swell was running. The ship was Rocking & Rolling. I went down for lunch the dining room was empty except for an American we got chatting. After a time we noticed lunch was not being served, we went to investigate as we approached the galley we seen the chef being carried out, he had been scalded with hot soup as the ship was rolling. Where is our lunch we asked someone? The galley floor was awash with soup with rolls of meat rolling about. We were given a roll of meat and bread each.
When we reached Southampton I had no money I tried hitch hiking to Glasgow only got as far as Winchester. In desperation I went to social security and stated my case I have no money and need to get to Glasgow. I was given a Travel Warrant for the train journey when I arrived home I very hungry.
I started working with GKN reinforcing bar division as assistant maintenance fitter. I was very lucky working as an assistant maintenance fitter as during this time Britain was working a 3 day week but because I was working with maintenance I was working a full week. I started getting letters from the social security who wanted me to pay back my travel warrant. I told them I was working longer hours than there office hours and can’t take time off my work to pay the warrant. One night a man and woman arrived at my house to investigate me. I welcomed them in. At this time I was interested in tropical fish, the investigators were more interested in my fish than me. I made them coffee, over coffee I regaled them with my travel experiences. The investigators told me I should have been given money to buy food for my journey. They decided the money owed for the travel warrant was unrecoverable.
Working for GKN was dirty and dangerous. I seen advert Glasgow City Council recruiting Park Rangers this sounded good to me. I sent for application form, and got a date and time for an interview. When out getting spare parts for a machine I took the opportunity to attend the interview. When the interviewer asked me why I wanted to be a park ranger I said “look at me dirty and oily from working with noisy machinery, I want to be able to go home clean and tidy” I got the job of park ranger where I worked for the last 30 years and retired age 60.
After 3 years of retirement, I got an invite to a wedding in North India the wedding was high up in the Himalayas this was in the month of March and it was cold, I was expecting India to be hot but this has to be the best wedding ever. It lasted 4 days. Day1 Preparing the groom’s house and with a band playing, the groom’s male friends dancing Day2 From the groom’s house there was a narrow footpath to the road the groom was carried seated on a throne on the shoulders of male relatives with the band playing, relatives fallowing until we arrived at the road a distance of 2 kilometres. On the road was a car waiting for the groom, priest, some relatives and me and a bus for everyone else in including the still paying band. I was very honoured to be in the overcrowded car with the groom for the ten hour drive to the bride’s house.
To say the drive through the Himalayas was spectacular would be an understatement as the road snakes its way up shear mountains sides, winding alongside rivers. At some point we stopped for a meal break. Then we passed through what looked like a military camp but more like a city. We continued snaking up mountain sides. We eventually arrived late at night in the bride’s village. I was given a house to live in. Day 3 The wedding with the groom and the bride face covered from each other until the marriage was complete. During the marriage service I was taking photographs of this event when a Indian man who was drunk kept getting in front of my camera I was getting frustrated as no man frustrated matter where I went this man would get in my way eventually I shouted at him “FUCK OFF” he looked at me astonished and went away. Another Indian man stood laughing he said to me “that man does not understand English but he understood you” I was a bit embarrassed swearing at a wedding. It was getting late I decided to go to my house and get some sleep. Out on the street two men said they would take me home. However, I did not like the look of them and they were taking me in the wrong direction to my house I decided to return to the wedding the two men insisting I go with them but I ignored their protests and returned to the wedding. The man who was laughing at me shouting at the drunk said “I saw you leaving with those bad men?” I said I did not like them and they were not taking me to my house that is why I came back. He said “they wanted to sleep with you” Come I will take you to your house and he did. Day 4 Well the groom is now married, and his wife has to go to her husband’s house another ten hour drive. She with a escort of many female relatives and many male relatives carrying all her worldly possessions leave the her house, mother, aunties all crying. When without warning the new bride started screaming and crying all the females start crying. The new bride faints. Male relatives and her husband pick her up and carry her and put in the car, where she recovers and regains her composure in our very over crowded car. While all this was going on two bands were playing one for the now married groom and one for his wife.
We snaked our way back over the Himalayas arriving exhausted back to the groom’s house. The footpath was dark. His house was a blaze of light as the band played the groom’s father and mother welcomed their son’s wife into the house. Next morning the husband and wife were taken to the water resource one kilometre downhill from the house, where a short ceremony was held and she had to carry a copper pot full of water uphill to the house. I tried to carry a pot of water but I could not get it onto my head much to the amusement all the females.
Too soon it was time for me to leave I went back o Delhi where I got sleeping class train where I lived for a day and a half travailing to Shillong on the eastern   corner bordering Bangladesh and not far from China. Shillong main language is English and the food is Chinese. Shillong has fantastic Mountain scenery. After some time I travelled back to Delhi and flew home.