| Melvyn Higson was born 14th July 1951 in Davyhulme Hospital, (Trafford General) Urmston. His parents, Leslie and Mary, lived at 34 Engine Row (Chaddock Row) Boothstown. Melvyn lived there, with his siblings Joan and Terry, until he was ten. Engine Row was so called because it used to house the train driver families from the nearby colliery. It was an unmade road rising steeply to Chaddock Lane surrounded by farm fields. The houses began half way down the hill at number 34 and ended 56. John Openshaw, Melvyn's best friend lived at number 56 with his parents Kitty and Arthur, and his deaf older sister Freda. Children from Engine Row had a favorite game. They would cut a narrow branch from a tree about four feet long and tie a piece of string about a foot from the top. Then, astride it, the piece of wood would become their imaginary horse. When Melvyn's family moved to Ashdown Drive, a new house in Mosley Common, Melvyn would go back to Engine Row to play. One day in the pouring rain Melvyn and John saw Geoff Fox sitting in the grid completely naked. It turned out that Mr. Fox was the infamous streaker of Worsley Woods. |
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Boothstown had two primary
schools, St Andrew's and the Methodist School which was on Chaddock Lane.
The Methodist School had a nursery class starting at three years of age.
Melvyn was enrolled but on the second day at lunch time, after the school window cleaner made funny faces
at him, he went home and announced to his
mother that he had left school. Consequently, two years later, he started his primary education at Worsley St Mark's, a Church of England
School. Melvyn would travel the two miles to school by trolley
bus. Situated on the edge of Worsley Woods Melvyn and his best
school friend, Colin Brookes, watched the building of the 'Fly Over', a huge
bridge taking the M63 (later the M62 and now the M60) over the Manchester
Ship Canal. He left, primary school after failing his Eleven Plus
examinations, in 1962.
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His secondary education was completed at Walkden Boys' Secondary Modern School, or Birch Road as it was better known. It was here that Melvyn exchanged his friends for boys (and girls) from the Walkden area. In those days the two tier secondary school system separated the academics from the others. Only one or two pupils from secondary modern schools stayed on, at the age of fifteen, to sit exams. Melvyn left in 1966 with only one certificate and that was for swimming a length at Worsley Pool. However, he was not allowed to take it with him because he had not paid his shilling into school funds. He had probably bought five Woodbines instead. |
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During the 1960s
Melvyn's social life was dominated by motor bikes. It was the era of
the Mods and Rockers. Melvyn was firmly in the camp of the
Rockers, Clad in leather jacket and jeans he frequented a temperance
bar on Bolton Road Walkden, called Bob's Cafe, most evenings. His
first bike was a 200cc James Sports Captain and his second was a home
built Triumph Speed Twin, 500cc. He still loves to tell the story of
when he came home from Blackpool in 25 minutes. A journey of 48
miles, along the A6. None of the motorways had built at that
time. He sold his Speed Twin when he started seeing Norma Smith, who
lived in Blackburn, for a three wheeled Reliant, which he could drive on
his bike licence. After passing his car driving test he bought
a Red Mini, which became his recognised trade mark.
Melvyn's working life was unsettled for the first few years. His first job was an apprentice welder at Robert Morris' in Farnworth, which was followed by a short period working for his father as a painter and decorator and then as a television engineer for Alan Tabner. Finally he settled at L Gardner & Sons making diesel engines. It was here that Melvyn first got interested in politics by becoming the factories youngest shop steward at the age of twenty. Ted Heath was the Prime Minister and for the second time put the country on a three day week. Gardner's manager was a man called Tombstone who stood little interference from the trade union, the AEEU. His interpretation of the three day working week was three 12 hour shifts. All the factory, except for the two new bays where Melvyn was working, accepted the twelve hour day. Melvyn and his colleagues walked out after the usual eight hours. As sharp practice Melvyn was transferred to another, non-unionised bay, which was working the twelve hour shift. The manager expected Melvyn to give in but at the age of 19 he was the only worker outside the new bays to walk out at 4.45pm. It took twelve months but the militants won and received unemployment benefit for the pay Gardners' docked from their wages. Shortly after his twentieth birthday his colleagues asked Melvyn to be their shop steward.
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After leaving Gardner's Melvyn worked for about two years at Eaton's, another engineering factory, at Walkden and then at MPI, in Leigh, inserting foam into house cavities for insulation. He was made redundant after six months because the industry received some bad press. That meant he got married, started paying a mortgage and lost his job within the same week. Melvyn was out of work for one week before starting work for Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, first as a bus conductor and after two years as a driver, based at the Holden Road depot in Leigh. Before long he joined the Transport & General Workers Union committee and steadily moved up until he became the Chairman of the 6/7 Branch. Together with Dennis Morris, the secretary, they made a good team. After fighting off a threat of depot closures, from the County Council in 1984, Melvyn and Dennis finally succumbed in 1986 because the Thatcher government was to introduce legislation to deregulate public transport. They knew they would not survive and to safeguard jobs the depot closed on the 2nd February. They moved to the Atherton Depot taking with them some of their local conditions of employment, which made working at Atherton more bearable. Melvyn resigned as Chairman just before the two branches merged making way for Dennis to continue. After a short period when the bus company was partially owned by the employees it was bought by FirstBus (later First Group) and therefore privatisation became complete. Atherton eventually closed in 1996 and consequently the employees were transferred to Bolton. Melvyn has never had any regrets from working in public transport, describing it as an education from the University of Life. |
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On the 18th August 1973 Melvyn married Anne Williams. Anne had been married before and had a son, Allan, whom Melvyn later adopted. They bought a house, 178 Leigh Road, in Boothstown and had two more children Sharron (17th November 1974) and Andrew (5th May 1976). Melvyn worked long hours as a bus driver, especially when he was Chair of the TGWU branch, but nevertheless he was devoted to his family. They were reasonably happy but could always have done with more money. Melvyn's marriage to Anne ended in divorce in 1986. Except for a period of eighteen months Melvyn had custody of Sharron and Andrew. On the 12th August 1991 he married Sylvan, a teacher. On the 25th July 1992 Melvyn became a grandfather when Sam was born.
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In 1979 Melvyn joined the Labour Party. At his very first branch meeting he was appointed to the position of Membership Secretary and for the next twenty years always held an official position within the party including Secretary and Membership Secretary for the Worsley Constituency Labour Party, which he held for many years. In 1982 Melvyn was first elected as a councillor for Walkden North Ward within the City of Salford. Within two years he had become deputy chair of the Accident Prevention & Licensing Committee. A year later the Chairman's position became vacant; Melvyn was the unopposed choice. Under his chairmanship Committee changed its named to Consumer Protection and later to Environmental Services to reflect the extra responsibilities. In 1998 Melvyn resigned his seat on the City Council only to contest it again, as an Independent, in 2000. In February 1999 Melvyn resigned from the Labour Party. In 1986 Melvyn was also appointed to the Eccles Bench, as a magistrate for Greater Manchester. After the Eccles Bench closed Melvyn was transferred to the City of Salford Bench where he still sits today. However, the City of Salford Bench is currently under the threat of closure, not because Salford is short of crime but, because other surrounding magistrates' courts, like Bury and Trafford, are under used. The City of Salford Bench is situated in Bexley Square, Salford in the original Salford Town Hall. Melvyn's opinion is that the building is no longer suitable for a magistrates' court. Security is poor, there are inadequate facilities for witnesses and disabled people and it lacks a crèche. As far as Melvyn can remember the City Council had earmarked the former Albert Mill site, at Swinton, for a new purpose built court. Unfortunately, the funding from the Government never materialised. The site is now to house the new Salford Area Police Headquarters. In 2002 the Greater Manchester Magistrates' Court Committee announced it is to look again at its accommodation problem so maybe Salford Magistrates' Court will be saved.
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Back in his teens and early twenties, Tony Smith with
who also worked at L Gardner & Sons, introduced Melvyn to Max
Shacklady. Max
was an amateur boxer but one year whilst contesting for a place in the
United Kingdom Olympic squad a decision was given against him. Max
felt so badly about the decision he turned his energy into amateur
wrestling and opened a gym of his own. Melvyn joined his gym.
Years later Melvyn and Max's paths nearly crossed again. Just before
Melvyn's appointment to the magistracy, Max, who was already a magistrate
sitting at Eccles, died.
Melvyn still likes to keep fit. He runs 3 miles in 30 minutes at least 3 times per week and on the other days does an alternative type of exercise like swimming or weight training. He is member of the Total Fitness Gym at Walkden. Another way Melvyn likes to keep fit is dancing. In September 1997 Sylvan started dancing lessons at Sandham's Dance Studio. She asked Melvyn to join her but he said no. Eight weeks later he changed his mind but as Sylvan had been learning the man's steps they both had to start from the beginning. Now dancing plays a big a very big part in their joint social life. They are proficient in all the Ballroom dances, most of the Latin American dances and have a good command of the modern Sequence dances. |
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Another of Melvyn's loves is to conquer mountains. He does most of his hill walking and mountaineering with Sylvan but the more serious climbs they are accompanied by his friends Chris Gibbon and Andy Hibbert. Melvyn has conquered the highest peaks of the four countries of Great Britain and Ireland. Ben Nevis, 4,406 feet in Scotland, Snowdon, 3,557 feet in Wales, Scafell Pike, 3,210 feet in England and Carrantuohill, 3,414 feet in Ireland For a full account of these climbs, each one a story on its own, click here. Of course Melvyn has also conquered many other mountains and loves to fell walk. Melvyn is a member of the Ramblers' Association and the National Trust. He seldom attends any of their meetings or organised events but supports them because they both fight to keep the 'right to roam' over the countryside. He says he lives in the best part of the United Kingdom because within a 60 minute drive you can get to the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Peak District and Wales or Blackpool and other seaside resorts or the city life of Manchester and Liverpool. Manchester is renowned for its inclement weather. Melvyn would argue that it does not rain any more in Manchester than anywhere else in the country but it is more damp atmospherically due to the cloud. Wainwright once said, "There is no such thing as inclement weather just inadequate clothing."
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Melvyn's
marriage to Sylvan ended in 2003 and perhaps Melvyn's life changed more in
the following few years than it had ever done so in the past. After
living alone in Astley for twelve months Melvyn moved in with new
girlfriend Marion. They had known each other since they were about
thirteen, went to the same secondary school and Melvyn was the best friend
of Marion's first husband Bob Waring. They had not seen or heard of
each other for over thirty years. Marion worked at Blackpool
Pleasure Beach when they first met but soon relocated to Southport
Pleasureland as the Deputy Catering and Retail Manager. This turned
out to be a bad move as she was forced to look for another job after only
a few months in the job. Having run pubs in the past she soon became
the General Manager of the Bay Horse Public House, Restaurant and
twenty-eight bedroom Premier Lodge. It was a residential job and
Melvyn moved in too. Although there were some good times, the
preverbal every-mans dream, of living in a pub, soon changed into a
nightmare. The close proximity to Hadock Race Course meant that the
pub was extremely busy on race days. Many of the people simply drank
to much. Marion's working week frequently exceeded 100 hours, which
meant Melvyn's days were very long too considering he already had a full
time job of his own. In 2005 Marion was offered another job, which
she readily accepted. She became the national Field Training Manager
for the French company Elior. This meant Marion and Melvyn had to
move back to their home in Golborne, with their two babies Lucy and Barlow
(Yorkshire Terriers)
Sam remained Melvyn's only grandchild for thirteen years but all changed on September 8th 2005 when his second Grandson, Luca, was born, followed closely on December 28th by Demi his first Granddaughter and his fourth grandchild, Ollie, was born on 22nd August 2007. His fifth grandchild and second granddaughter, Peppa Sophia was born on the 19th June 2010. On November 8th 2009 Melvyn and Marion got married at Holland Hall, Up Holland, West Lancashire. It was when Melvyn was working at L Gardner & Sons, in the 1970s that he was first introduced to the world of computers. In those days the IBM 360 was the 'office computer'. However once installed there was no room for anything else in the office. Melvyn did a course on computer programming. Using the BASIC computer language his work was saved on audio tapes as floppy discs, CDs and massive hard drives had not yet been invented. He specialised in writing children's educational programmes. Perhaps his best programme was inspired by his daughter, Sharron. She was struggling to learn the directions north, south, east and west whilst doing a badge on orienteering in the Brownies. Using the children's story Little Red Riding Hood he wrote a game in which Sharron had to get Little Red Riding Hood from home to her Grandma's house by using the directional signs and trying to avoid the Big Bad Wolf and other dilemmas. Sharron played the game on a Commodore 16. She passed her orienteering badge easily. Melvyn recently took an interest in photography and video and, coupled with computers especially the Internet, made a very interesting venture. After studying hard he became a specialist in digital photography & video and now has a diploma with a grade of merit in Advanced Internet Studies. He has designed a number of Websites under his pseudonym JackBit & Snap. His latest site is Politically Independent Candidate X which is a free advice service for any politically independent candidate standing in the local elections in the United Kingdom. It guides candidates through the nomination procedure and helps them run a successful election campaign. Melvyn claims it to be the first website of its kind because it includes information on electioneering which is a closely guarded secret of the major political parties. Links to Melvyn's major websites can be found at the top of this page including a link to his Photo Album.
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