Ian Collins (1944-Date)
I am the eldest child of Fred and Ruby Collins. I was born at about 1.30 am on Friday, 29th September 1944 in the Salvation Army Nursing Home, Mitchell Street, Ancoats, Manchester. I have always imagined myself to be a conception from around Christmas of 1943.
My brother, Leslie Collins, was born on 25th March 1950.
My mother was nearly 30 years old when I was born - quite old in those days to be having a first child. She had a few false alarms during the preceding fortnight, finally going into labour at about 6.00 pm on the Thursday evening, at about the time their greengrocery business shut. This was convenient as their lives were dominated by the needs of the business. Dad took her to the hospital on the bus - this was the war, nobody had a car, anyway there was no petrol.
The next few hours were difficult and I was reluctant to be born. The doctor was called about midnight, and I was delivered by forceps after a lot of coming and going.
My mother really wanted a girl and seems to have expected one. She had chosen the name Carol Ann and not considered any boy's names, which indicates she was disappointed with a boy - me!. The 29th September is Michaelmas Day and perhaps Michael would have been appropriate, but Ian was chosen because it was different. It must have been a popular name at the time, as there were always at least two other boys in my class at school called Ian.
Her mother, Lizzie, could never quite get the name right and called me "Ion". They explained it was Scottish for John, and she said I reminded her of her own lost son, John.
At the time I was born, the Second World War was at its height and drawing to its close. The day before my birth, the survivors of the Battle of Aarnhem were withdrawn from the failed action to secure the bridge over the River Rhine - A Bridge Too Far.
My first school was Seymour Road Primary School in Clayton in Manchester. We actually lived just outside the Manchester boundary, in Droylsden, but my mother attended Seymour Road herself, decided it gave her an excellent education, so I was sent there too. I started in September 1949 when I was not quite 5 years old. I was to remain the youngest person in my class throughout my schooling, something that worked against me later. I might have made more of my time at school if I'd been the eldest in the next year down, but it wasn't to be.
I stayed at Seymour Road for 4 years and learnt the basic reading, writing and arithmetic with teachers that included Mrs McVeigh and Mrs Griffiths.
Manchester Road School in Droylsden was in sight of where I lived. When I was 9 years old, it was decided I should move there, probably because my parents were thinking about my secondary education. My mother took me to see the headmaster, Mr Gleave, and he gave me a reading test. I had to read from several books as he increased the difficulty, before deciding to put me in the 3A class. As far as I am aware, that test was the first of many in my life.
My new teacher was Mr Gordon and, even though the school was close to home, I only knew one boy in my class, my friend Eric Nichols. Immediately, I noticed the difference with my old school. Everything was faster and seemed harder. Some of the other pupils were really clever, not like me - I was usually about in the middle for everything. I did what I always did when I felt out of my depth - I kept my head down, worked as hard as I could and hoped nobody noticed I was struggling.
The arithmetic was done from cards, kept in order in a box, and everyone worked at their own pace, getting the answers marked before moving on to the next card. I was used to everyone working on the same sums on duplicated sheets or from the blackboard. Some boys were well ahead of me and racing away. English included a lot of reading, much of it out loud to the whole class, something I wasn't used to and never liked - I was always a shy boy. As in Seymour Road School, bad spelling in written work was always red-ringed by the teacher, and we then had to write out the correct spelling 3 times in our exercise books.
In September 1954, I progressed to 4A, where the teacher was Mr Richards. This was the first year at school where we had homework, as it was the year we sat the 11+ examination. Looking back on it, it is clear we were being taught to pass the examination. Our homework was from preprinted books, with questions similar to those in the 11+.
I passed the 11+ and went on to attend Audenshaw Grammar School in September 1955. Before they would accept me, I was interviewed by the headmaster, Mr R.I. Porter (or Rip, as we called him). I suppose it was because I was the youngest in the class. There were 3 classes in each year - Red, White and Blue - with Red being the top class that progressed the fastest. I went into 2 Red (there was no 1 level). Even I was surprised to see I got into the top class. It was a portent of the future, even though it would take me many years to realise it.
I was an average student at Audenshaw Grammar School, being in about the middle for most things. I might have achieved more if I''d worked harder, but I usually did just enough to get by. Unfortunately, my father, Fred Collins, died on 11th February 1959 as a long term consequence of contracting pneumonia when serving in the army during the Second World War. It set my progress back for a while and took me until my GCE year (1959-60) before I started to find my way again.
I did become a regular player in the school's rugby team, in the under-14s and under-15s (or the Colts, as we called them). In fact, I played for the Colts for 2 years in succession, because my age was under 15 on the 1st of September in the second year. That was the time I began to realise how I could perform better in class if I was the eldest, but the thought of staying down a year never occurred to me - it would have been tantamount to failure.
My GCE Ordinary Levels were average. My best achievement was French at grade 3, with passes in Maths, Chemistry, Geography and History below that. I failed English Language and German. On one hand, it was a disaster. On the other, it was an achievement - seeing as I only did one evening's revision for the whole examinations!
In September 1960, I spent a week in the sixth form and attended one chemistyr and one maths lesson. I didn't understand a word of it and was clearly not ready for the rigour of A Level study. That should have been the time to retake my GCE year, but nobody suggested it and it never occurred to me. My life took a different course.
I applied to an advert in the Manchester Evening Chronicle for a laboratory assistant at Ciba Clayton Ltd (part of the Clayon Aniline Company). The requirement were: 5 GCE Ordinary levels, including Maths and Chemistry. The interview was on my 16th birthday - 29th September 1960. It was short and I also passed the RAF test to make sure I wasn't colour blind. They offered me the job at £230 a year (£4.41 a week). It was only a thre'penny bus ride from home that took 15 minutes.
I started work the following Monday at 8.30 am on 3rd October 1960 as a Laboratory Assistant in the Pigments Department. It was the start of a lifetime career in and around chemical research, product development and customer service. As in much of my life and achievements, nothing was planned - I just followed the opportunities as they presented themselves.
At my interview, I was told I would have to continue to study chemistry, physics and maths at night school and, if I passed my first year, I would be allowed a day off work a week to attend. In 3 years, I passed the Ordinary National Certificates in chemistry, physics and maths; 2 years later I passed the Higher National Certificate in chemistry. By this time, I moved to Styrene Co-Polymers Ltd - where we made synthetic resins for paints and industrial finishes.
I left work to finish my Graduateship and Membership of the Royal Society of Chemistry as a full time student at Salford University, subsequently gaining Chartered Chemist status, and a Phd in synthetic organic chemistry. I graduated with my PhD in 1970, so the whole academic journey took me 10 years from leaving school.
On 30th March 1964, I married Anne Mary Spencely at St Phillips Catholic Church in Longsite, Manchester. We met at Ciby Clayton Ltd, where she was a Laboratory Assistant in the Cotton Dyeing Department. We were both only 19 years old when we married, and settled at 98 Cyprus Street in Stretford. Our first child, Nicola Jane, was born on 21st February 1965. Our second child, Jonathan Paul, was born on 20th August 1966.
It was a struggle on £15.00 a week (£780 a year), but we managed. Fortunately, my mother, Ruby Collins, helped us to buy our first house - a three bedroom terraced. It cost £1100 and we spent £332 renovating it, and for that we got a new kitchen and bathroom and complete redecoration! We paid my mother £2.00 a week into a Post Office account. By the time we left 3 years later, we had paid back about 20% of the loan, but it was interest free. We sold the house for £1700, happy with the profit, and able to take our first proper holiday - 2 weeks in a guest house in Colwyn Bay.
I started my PhD studies in 1967 and we moved house to somewhere more convenient for Salford University, on a direct bus route. Ironically, we were better off when I became a full time student - with my grant and allowances for 2 children, I received £880 a year, plus tax benefits. We moved into 28, Clovelly Road, Swinton in the autumn of 1967, a 3 bedroom semi-detached house that had been renovated, but needed decorating. It cost us £2400 and we settled in as a happy family and the children started nursery and school while Anne looked after all of us. She took a part-time evening job at the Children's Hospital and the extra income was very handy.
People like me were not typical PhD students. We were used to working in a laboratory and getting results. Our supervisors got good value from us and wanted us to work for them. My supervisor was the Professor of Organic Chemistry, Prof Hans Suschitzky. As the Head of Department, I asked to work for him. When I became the best student in my graduate year - winning the Royal Society of Chemistry's prize for the best student in the North West of England - he wrote to me immediately offering me a position and a grant.
I approached my PhD like work, working from 9.00 to 5.00, with lunch taken at the bench, staying late on Wednesday evenings until 9.00pm. I did much of the background work at home and, every evening, compiled a to-do list in priority order so I knew exactly what I expected to achieve the following day. I must have been the most organised student at Salford University. In that way, I had sufficient results for my thesis within 2 years, had written it up (plus 5 papers for publication) and graduated in July 1970, the first student in my year.
I had already lined up a job in pharmaceutical research for Allen and Hanbury's in Ware, Hertfordshire (part of the Glaxo Group) and started work as a Senior Reseach Chemist on 10th September 1970. It might sound as if I was in a rush. I was. I wanted to get my career going and put behind me years of struggling to make ends meet as a student with a mortgage and a young family. My salary was £1700 a year + £75 Outer London Allowance.
Ware was a small country town almost isolated from outside world in 1970, a totally different experience form Manchester and everything we knew. Although it was only a train ride to London, we rarely went - we were still struggling. We bought a 3 bedroom semi-detached house at 60 Moss Road, Ware for £6100, a major increase and only just what we could afford. The cost of renovating the house and the mortgage took most of my income.
We were happy, if not content with having to scrape by in a period of high inflation. The children attended school in Hertford and grew up in an excellent county town environment. We saved for our first car - a Morris 1100, bought for £235 from Anne's auntie, and began to take holidays in the West Country and South Wales. I progressed at work, Anne got a job as a technician in the laboratory at Haileybury College, and we progressed as a family.
On 1st July 1973, I was promoted to a Reseach Leader, managing a team of 5 people: 2 PhD chemists, 2 graduates and a technician. We worked on asthma, congestive heart disease and anigina - diseases all related through the cardiovascular system. It was a very productive team and we produced a steady stream of novel compounds for biological testing, several of which progressed to be tested on human volunteers. It was only when the official history of Glaxo was published years later that I realised one of our compounds had been touted around the USA as a potential breakthrough in asthma therapy - unfortunately this was never realised, but we got close. In the event, our work provided the ground work for a later compound (called Serevent) which came to the market several years later and became a billion pound worldwide seller for Glaxo.
In November 1974, we had progressed sufficiently to move to a better house and moved across Ware to a 3 bedroom detached house at 12 Postwood Road. It took us 10 years of endeavour to reach the sort of property we always wanted - after a couple of years, we extended it to 4 bedrooms. At last we could accomodate visitors without giving up our bed and sleeping on the floor.
In October 1976, I left laboratory work to take the position of Personnel Manager for the Ware site of Glaxo Research. At the time, we had about 750 staff (about 60% of whom were PhDs and graduates) with plans to grow to over 1000 within a few years and occupy new laboratories that were under construction. The next hectic period of my life began.
There was a lot of serious work needed as we transformed the company from the reseach department of a manufacturing company to a world class R&D organisation. This meant changing pay structures, working practices, the quality of management and training - while managing a high recruitment load and highly educated staff. I had dealings with Trades Unions and their members, government and local authorities, and a key role in integrating our company into the mainstream Glaxo corporation.
In May 1982, I was appointed as Personnel Director for research and development for the whole of the Glaxo organisation in the UK. As well as Ware, there was a larger site at Greenford in London, and several peripheral sites - a total of about 2500 people. I became more influential in the determination of policy at a central level as well as managing my own staff that increased up to about 65 people.
In about September 1982, we moved house again - so I would be better situated to travel to all the Glaxo Research sites. By this time, Anne was also working in the Medical Department at Ware handling data from clinical trials. We moved to Hall Farm House, Langley, Hertfordshire (near Welwyn Garden City). It was a 4 bedroom detached house in about a third of an acre, in a small hamlet of 14 houses and a pub. It needed renovation (again!!!) but was ideal for us as our children were moving away from home - Nicola as a nurse in Cambridge and Jon as an IT student at Leeds University.
The house had been empty for 7 years and it needed a total refurbishment, from central heating to bathrooms and kitchen, redecorating and carpeting. The garden was a wilderness containing not much more than 4 old bramley apple trees - everything had to be cleared and replanted. It took about 5 years to complete the transformation of the property.
My life changed in 1990. I fell in love with Gabrielle Florence Curwen, a Training Manager in my department at Greenford. I left Anne after over 25 years of marriage and moved in with Gabrielle and her 2 children at 22 Park Crescent, Elstree, Hertfordshire. Because Anne, Gabrielle and I all worked for the same company, the directors decided to force my resignation. I left Glaxo in January 1990 with a year's pay and my company car. At 45 years old, my career halted in its tracks. People I had worked alongside for years all took the side of Anne and wanted nothing to do with me - including many whose own career I had helped.
Our house in Elstree was a 3 bedroom dormer style, semi-detached house. Gabrielle had recently moved in and it was in a raw state, so I started renovating it - I had plenty of time while I found a new job and re-established my career. I had hoped never to have to work on another property, but had no alternative.
By April 1990, I joined a consultancy in Hatfield called Executive Selection Associates as a Recruitment Consultant. ESA were mainly concerned with the civil engineering industry and I established a company called Executive Scientist Appointments - recruiting mainly in the pharmaceutical industry. I started with a shared desk and one-third of a secretary and built up my business through contacts and knowledge of a broad section of the science based industry.
By 1997, my business had grown to a staff of 25 people with a turnover of £1.75 million a year, with clients in Europe and the USA. I had become a director of the holding company, which we called the Salisbury Consulting Group. In that year, we sold out to the Science Recruitment Group and I pocketed sufficient funds to pay off a large mortgage on a substantial 5 bedroomed property in Radlett, Hertfordshire - one of the most expensive places to live in Britain outside London - and establish suitable funds to support our lifestyle for the future.
Gabrielle and I married on 4th March 1994 and she continued as a Training Manager for Glaxo Research. In 1996, she took voluntary redundancy after Glaxo merged with Wellcome and set herself up as a sole trading consultant, offering training, personal and organisational development. It was the best move she ever made and helped us continue to live in the style to which we were accustomed.
I formally retired from recruitment consultancy on 31st March 2000. I set up an antiques business for 5 years selling art ceramics, mainly made by Royal Doulton, Moorcroft and Martin Brothers. The antiques trade contracted considerably after the events of 9/11 and the advent of eBay, so I wound the company up. We enjoyed the experience, but the rewards failed to justify the investment in time and energy.
Since 2000, I have researched and published my family history, most of which is now on this website.
I have also written and published a book on the specialised collecting area of embroidered silk postcards. I have collected these for many years. It can be seen on another of my websites:
https://sites.google.com/site/embroideredsilkpostcards/
I now spend my time writing and have a novel and many short stories to my name. One of my short stories has won a prize in a competition and been published. My first novel is The Power of the Gods. It is now published on Kindle. You can read the first pages for free if you follow this link:
Gabrielle and I love cruising and have visited many parts of the world together.