In 1970 I got an award for being the best practical student of my year, along with name in the local paper and a £5. prize of tools. Big deal some may say, but £5 in those days bought a set of six of each Whitworth, A/F and Metric combination spanners in Brittool, most of which somewhere in my garage I still have. The Whitworth fitted the old British motorbikes which were all I could afford at the time as everyone was buying Japanese, but they also fitted older Morris etc. we still worked on, the A/F fitted all the then current Fords etc. and the Metric was just starting to become more popular, so are still in use today.
I also have a pair of American Proto molegrips from around the same time which I bought from a tool guy who used to sell from his car in those days. They cost me 30 bob(£1.50 to you youngsters) at the time the older mechanics said I was stupid as a genuine pair of Mole Grips was 19/6d (just under £1) However they still work, all be it modified and grip well.
I couldn't find the news paper cutting, but this was when the award was and just to give you a laugh, check my starting pay per 40 hour week as an apprentice.
My mum said "get yourself an apprenticeship and you will never be out of work", apart from holidays out of work two weeks since 1969 until I retired. I was only out of work the two weeks as I jacked that job in as no pay rise, signed on "unemployed" and got £7 one week and £9 the second week, then offered another job at a 1/3rd wage increase. In all that time I have never needed to apply for a job and went self employed in 1982.
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