4
NEWS
NEWS
Ron seeks a new tune in business
We say farewell to…
Times when the job has been
a hair-raising experience!
JOHN Griffin clocked up 46 years in the
electricity supply industry before he retired
at the end of September.
Now 62, he joined the former North West
Electricity Board in 1957 as a 16-year-old
junior clerk, based in his home town of
Manchester.
Seven years later, he became a wayleave
administrator with the Central Electricity
Generating Board at Offerton, Stockport.
John found his niche in 1973 when he
was appointed wayleave officer. “I was
finally able to get out and about,” he said.
“One of the best things about the job is
that every day is different — you never
know what’s going to happen.”
Over the past 30 years, John’s “patch”
has been mainly the North West and North
Wales and he has been involved with a
host of major projects. They include the
underground cables between Dinorwig
Pump Storage and Pentir substation, new
overhead lines and diversions of an existing
overhead line to provide a clear route for
the Blackburn Southern bypass, and the
Isle of Man Interconnector.
He has also enjoyed his involvement with
county shows, grantors’ golf days and
other grantor public relations activities.
“A real pleasure of the job is meeting so
many people from all walks of life. I have
known a number of grantors and families
for a long time. In some cases, I have gone
on to deal with their sons or daughters.
“There have been some memorable
characters — I remember one tall farmer
who tried to lift me off the ground by my
hair. I told him I’d tell him about the
forthcoming project when he put me down!”
John and his wife Barbara live in Bramhall,
Cheshire, and are the proud grandparents of
five-year-old Jordan who lives close by with
their son Jonathan and his wife Danielle.
A keen golfer for the past 18 years, John
is looking forward to having more time to
get his handicap down.
John Griffin set fair for more time on the golf
course
Opportunity for a fresh challenge in rural Devon
EARLIER this year, Southern
Home Counties wayleave
officer Mike Gleaves
completed 31 years service in
the electricity industry —
mostly in wayleaves — and he
is now looking for a new
challenge in south Devon.
Mike, 49, hopes to keep in
touch with the farming
community and says he will
miss his contact with the
grantors.
Born in Manchester and
brought up in Peterborough,
Mike joined the accounts
team in the East Midlands
Electricity Board’s offices in
Chesterfield at the age of 18,
later moving to another
accounts position with the
Yorkshire Electricity Board at
Wakefield Area. Shortly after
his marriage to Beverley in
1978, he joined the wayleave
team there.
In 1985, Mike moved
south to join the former
Central Electricity Generating
Board at Bedminster
Down near Bristol,
transferring to Winchester,
Hampshire, in 1991 after the
electricity industry’s
privatisation.
Based in Nursling near
Southampton, he had a huge
wayleave “patch”, covering an
area from Chichester in the
east to Indian Queens in
Cornwall.
Mike moved to Tunbridge
Wells in 1998 to look after
wayleaves in Surrey, Sussex
and parts of Kent in the south
east Area.
A keen golfer, Mike also
enjoys travelling, particularly to
Switzerland where he would
like to live one day. He has two
daughters, Sarah, 12, and
Rachel, 10.
HE MAY be hanging up his
wayleave wellies soon, but Ron
Hodey has no intention of
letting the grass grow under his
feet.
After 33 years in the
electricity industry, 23 of them
in wayleaves, latterly in the
South West and South
Midlands, Ron has plenty of
plans to keep him busy —
including some featuring his
beloved tuba!
Ron, 52, played the
euphonium in his teens, but
gave it up for 30 years until his
daughters Michelle and Laura
began playing brass
instruments. He caught the bug
again, bought a tuba and
founded Dodington Parish
Brass Band in Yate,
Gloucestershire, in 1996. Today
the band performs at charity
events, fetes and other
community events.
“Sitting around doing nothing
in retirement is not for me,” said
Ron, a Dodington Parish
Councillor. “I’m looking forward
to finding more time to improve
my tuba playing and I intend to
set up a brass musical
instrument repair business — it
won’t make much money, but I
hope it will benefit others.
Hopefully I will also find some
gainful employment, perhaps
promoting the benefits of trees
or cycling, both interests of
mine — I was a cycling
proficiency instructor for 17
years.”
Wiltshire-born Ron — who
also has a married son, James
— lives with his wife Linda in
Yate. He joined the former
Central Electricity Generating
Board, where he met Linda, in
1970 as an administrative
trainee, based in Bristol. After
10 years in the South West
Region legal liaison and
insurance section, he joined
Estates and Wayleaves, where,
he said, “both job satisfaction
and career took off.”
“I have always enjoyed the
job, particularly meeting
grantors and learning about
their interests and concerns,”
said Ron. “Our grantors are
very important to the company,
and their enthusiasm for their
enterprises and diversifications
is inspiring. Even in times of
difficulty — such as the foot
and mouth crisis — they were
still positively finding a way
ahead.”
Of particular pri