Barry Owen, of Wolverhampton, was looking for a decent slot in the wage-earning world when he was due to leave school at 15.
Something like an apprenticeship with aero engineer Hobson’s, which was widely regarded as the best you could get in the city.
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He certainly didn’t get much encouragement from his careers master when he told him of this ambition.
The man simply laughed and said: “You won’t get a job there, Owen.” As an example of how not to encourage ambition in youth, that one should be up there in lights.
Young Owen wasn’t put off and went up the road to the huge 17 acre Villiers works, which was regarded locally as the second best place to learn a decent trade, as it had its own training school.
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