'Mouse' says get in touch

Class at Carnforth North Road Primary School circa 1960. The teacher is Mrs Greenwood, and Brian Leach remembers the names of most of the class (Brian is middle row,second from left)

Brian Leach, 69, an IT manager currently living in Worsley, Manchester, is still in touch with a few friends but said, “it would be good to hear from anyone who remembers me from those years.”

Brian said: “We lived at Wayside Garage, Yealand Conyers (about four miles north of Carnforth) from 1954 until 1962, my father, mother and six children. I attended Carnforth North Road Primary School from 1957 until 1962.

“Following a brief move to Liverpool in 1962 (enough said) we returned to Lancaster in 1963, initially living on Portland Street then moving to Scotforth.

Yealand Rose Queen circa 1960-61. Brian Leach's sister, Helen is a ‘flower girl’ (Helen is back row, on the very left).

“I briefly attended Dallas Road Primary school until late summer 1963 when I moved up to ‘Big School’ and went to Lancaster Royal Grammar School which I attended until leaving school in the summer of 1968, when I joined British Telecom (then the GPO) as an apprentice.

“My nickname through this time was ‘Mouse’ because for quite a while I was smaller than my friends… alas I grew and ended up taller than most of them so it didn’t stick for too long!

“As part of my apprenticeship with BT I also attended Lancaster and Morecambe College of Further Education from 1968 to 1972.

“I worked with BT in both the Lancaster and Morecambe Exchanges, indeed extensively across the area. Morecambe back then was a manual telephone exchange until around 1971/72, and there was a lot of modernisation going on.

Wayside Garage circa 1960. Brian Leach's father is showing three ladies how to obtain milk from the ‘state of the art’ machine, generally referred to as the ‘Iron Cow’.

“In 1975 I accepted a promotion with BT and moved to Barrow-in-Furness.

“I enjoyed my time there but it wasn’t a good career move so I left BT in 1968 for pastures new.

“Since then I have had several jobs/careers, travelled the world with a number of them and retired at least twice! I worked with BT for 10 years , 24 years with Barclays Bank, 10 years with Vodafone, five years with Rolls Royce and currently five years with my current employer who believes I will never retire (they could be right).

“I still enjoy it although I can’t keep up with the technology anymore.

Brian Leach who used to live in Yealand Redmayne from 1954-1962.

“I was 69 in January but am still working with no plans to retire any time soon

“I am married (for the second time) to Christine (eight years). We have six children between us – I have three boys, Christine two girls and a boy (my step-children).

“I have four grandchildren ranging from 28 to two and am about to become a great, grandfather.

“My brother Colin lives in Morecambe, and I have two sisters (Lillian and Elizabeth) who live in the Lancaster area.

“It would be good to hear from anyone who remembers me from those years, many friends I haven’t seen in years, but a few I am still in touch with.”

If you know Brian from school or otherwise and want to get in touch you can call his mobile number tel: 07825 280581 or send him an email to [email protected].