Written by Stanley himself in his later years. Edited by I. R. Savage.

Stanley was born on 26^th April 1928 at Sea Mills Bristol in the West Country. His father was Herbert Arthur Savage and his mother May (nee-Parsons).

He lived with his parents and older brother Lesley (born 1927) and surviving sister Eileen (born 1929) at 38 Guildford road St Anne’s Park Bristol.

He attended St Anne’s Park Infants school, where his early days were marked by memories of fainting fits in morning assembly.

This was eventually cured by a tonsillectomy, which they had two attempts at, involving two operations due to three tonsils!

He still remembered the smell of rubber apron and anesthetic mask in later years.

Stanley moved on to attend junior school, a good 20 minute walk from home and on Sundays attended a High Anglican church for morning service, which would include incense, communion and sermons that went on forever, and in the afternoon, Sunday school. Probably enough religion to last a lifetime, which continued later at boarding school.

Back in those days he used to be part of a gang of lads which included his older brother and the Taylor boys (Bert and John) living in Ripon Road.

They played a lot of football up at St Anne’s Park and Cowboys and Indians, usually after watching Westerns at Saturday morning cinema.

Later he would go to Eastville to watch Bristol Rovers play (Leslie’s team) or Aston Gate to watch City who he described as an altogether classier team which he supported.

He would also go to watch his father play football for his works team and cricket in the summer where his father was wicket keeper and groundsman.

He had memories of picking blackberries next to the golf club,which was a game for the idle rich with cars, in those days.

Some Sundays he would go to Bees where there was a ferry and gardens on the river and further on to picnic in fields overlooking the main railway line to London, here he’d watch the steam trains pick up water from a trough in the track and the family would pick elderflower and dandelions for mums wine making,.

There would usually be an annual holiday which was a trip to Barry Island on the steamer from Hotwells to stay with friends, the Hopkins family for a week.

Christmas time always involved a trip to Castle Street Coop to see Father Christmas followed by a party at his father’s works canteen at Colthurst and Harding.

Then Boxing Days spent around the Taylors’ house.

Another annual event was a trip to Marshfield to stay with Uncle Harry and Aunt May and their five children, they had a large old house, days out were always exciting with many great outings on foot to various places including going swimming.

Granny Savage was a fine old lady who also lived at Marshfield and came to stay with Dad on a number of occasions.

The summer was memorable for sports days at school and a boat trip to Keynsham to the Fry’s chocolate factory. School days at St Anne’s were easy and enjoyable with great encouragement from the teachers. Dad sat entrance exams to Grammar and Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) a blue coat yellow stocking boarding school.

His results were good enough to go to either, but he chose QEH probably because of the glamour of wearing the uniform, since neither he nor his parents knew much about boarding schools.

1939, war was declared and start at QEH was delayed because of the need to build air raid shelters in the basement.

There were 110 boarders although numbers were reduced to a quarter during the war and any boys with homes in Bristol were sent home.

During the second year his father had changed jobs to drive Bulmer cider delivery lorries and as a consequence they had moved house to Claverham next door to the Taylor’s who had moved there the previous year.

Back then they did not have electricity or gas only oil lamps but there was a good garden to grow veg and keep chickens and geese, a godsend in the days of rationing.

Through the war years boarding at QEH he enjoyed playing rugby finishing as school captain, as well as squash, and tennis, he gradually improved his exam results, ending up with 9 school certificates and 3 higher certs in Chemistry, Physics, and Maths, plus being head prefect.

In September 1946 he started a BSc Chemistry degree at Bristol University supported by a full grant, so no expense for his parents.

The winter of 1947 was a memorable one as started snowing in late January and continued for the next 56 days on and off into April, journeys into Bristol University each day were somewhat hazardous!

Weekends were spent mainly tripping the light fantastic around local dance halls with mates.
It wasn’t long before during the weekly visit to Salthouse dance halls he met the love of his live; Miss Jean Short a Ladies’ hairdresser living in Clevedon.

He remembered celebrating Jean’s 21^st birthday (November 1948) together and after a lengthy engagement they were married in August 1952 at Clevedon Church.

After three years he qualified with a BSc Hons. 2:1 and was accepted for a PhD working under supervision of Dr Tom Gray and Prof W E Garner.

He worked on the investigation of semiconducting oxides, in particular copper and silicate oxides in evaporated thin films, and later published a paper on the findings.

This research was part of the work that would lead too much of the solid state physics of transistors and silicon chips used in computers as well as the development of charge coupled devices (CCD’s) used in cameras and phones today.

Unfortunately Dad never qualified for his Doctorate, as he didn’t complete his dissertation.This was put down to lack of direction from those responsible for overseeing his work.

Dad left University in 1951 and was obliged to take a job with the civil service as deferment from doing National Service.

He secured a position as a Scientific Officer working at the Explosives, Research and Development Establishment (gunpowder factory) at Waltham Abbey.

He was part of an inter-services research and development team working on explosive devices and their detonation.

The work was interesting in that it had a secret element involving signing the Official Secrets Act and working in association with the SOE.

There were also several courses and meetings at a school for agents in Gosport.

He described the working atmosphere as being more like a Busman’s Holiday with no real urgency, although spent in pleasant company.

The job involved testing of the various devices made,and would often end by blowing things up, these could be buildings or vehicles and even trains.

While at Waltham Abbey Dad initially stayed in a hostel on site along with a dozen other men, one of these inmates, Peter Moore became his best mate, he possessed an old battered motorcycle which was used to go into London for theatre and dance trips to the Hammersmith Palais.

Dad also played table tennis and badminton for the works team and he started playing rugby again firstly for Woodford and later Chingford with some success.

During this time a new estate was built with houses to rent and it was convenient to get married, they spent the honeymoon moving into a new house, number 8 The Cobbins.

Peter Moore and his partner followed and they spent much time together as a foursome.

At this time Dad purchased an old 1936 Panther motorcycle which he renovated, and they were given a dog, named Streaky, part Dalmatian.

This animal was a little skittish and Dad used to tell stories of how the dog would often escape and follow him down the road chasing after his motorcycle, one time jumping from the bedroom window.

As might be expected for a couple of newlyweds, along came another addition to the family namely Ian Roy born 23^rd July 1954, straight after the birth both Jean and Ian were moved into an isolation hospital with suspected Scarlet Fever although this turned out to be an allergy to penicillin.

Having reached the ripe old age of 26 and served his national service in a job with no great prospects it was time to move on and preferably back to the West Country.

Dad secured a new job at the Coal Research establishment, Stoke Orchard just outside Cheltenham working for Jacob Bronoswki.

With a 100% loan from the Coal Board they purchased a 3 bed semi, at 62 Clevelands Avenue.

He worked on the development of a smokeless fuel.

While he was there out of the blue, a letter arrived from Dr Gray his old supervisor at Bristol University, he was now a Professor at a College in America, inviting him to apply for a post graduate fellowship, sponsored by Philips petroleum.

Dad jumped at the opportunity and once the immigration visa was sorted he, Jean, and Ian sailed on The Empress of Britain bound for Canada in August 1957.

After a rough crossing,with nearly everyone suffering sea sickness, they docked in Quebec, the first night was spent in Le Château Frontenac in a palatial room.

The next day they were collected by a car and transported to Alfred Station in New York State.

Initially they stayed with another lecturer and were quickly introduced to American living with corn and clam bakes, washed down with lots of Gallo wine from a one gallon plastic container.

They moved into rented accommodation in Alfred Station.

This was a one horse town with a post office, one store and about 20 other houses on the road to Hornell.

It was a partitioned property shared with another couple who also worked at the college.

During the 2 years they were there Dad learnt to drive a car, taking lessons at evening classes and he managed to pass first time.

Soon after Dad purchased a 1952 Plymouth saloon for $450 which ran perfectly for the 2 years with no extra costs, other than a set of snow tyres.

The winters were memorable because snow usually arrived before Christmas and would be a permanent feature until April; the average snowfall being 144 inches.

The students from the Colleges halls of residence would make elaborate snow sculptures.

During their time in America every opportunity was taken to see as much of the country as possible.

Local trips were made to Rochester, Buffalo, Niagara, Montreal, Thousand Lakes, Washington and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Dad even managed some skiing in the winter but in those days there were no chair lifts so it took a long time to get up but a short time to come down.

The biggest trip they took was in October 1958 across the whole of United States it started with a visit to Oklahoma to deliver a lecture to Philips petroleum and deliver a microbalance for which Dad was paid the princely sum of $400 this practically paid for the rest of the trip out west, they covered approximately 9000 miles in over 3 weeks.

Started at Brownsville they moved on to Colorado Denver and Boulder. They did a two day horse ride into the Rockies then on to Yellowstone National Park.

While there they were visited by Brown Bears in the night, just outside the tent quite a memorable if not scary experience!

They did the usual sights of Old Faithful and assorted mud geysers.
Motored on through Wyoming to Montana and up into Washington State following the Snake River into Portland with distant views of Mount St Helens.

Then they turned south and followed the famous route 1 coastal road to Eureka, through redwood tree country stopping to view the largest, and finally to San Francisco over the Bay bridge.

After a short stay here with a friend they moved on to Yosemite with its awe inspiring vistas, after a long trip via Mojave Desert, travelling at night to avoid the heat, on to Las Vegas.

Turning for home they made a round trip around the Grand Canyon What a site!

Into 1959 and arrangements were made to sail back to the UK. In late May they boarded the Queen Elizabeth from New York to Southampton a much better trip back.

Dad returned to working with the Coal Board but soon got itchy feet and looked for new employment.

After several job interviews he finally secured a position as research scientist working for English Electric Valve Co in Chelmsford, spring of 1960.

Initially they were living in Southerland lodge hotel on London Road but soon managed to secure a new house that was being built in Oldbury Avenue Great Baddow this cost £3000 new and was to become the family home for the next 58 years.

Lynne arrived not long after in November 1960.
Dad continued to work with EEV, through name changes to GEC and now E2V, while there he worked initially on the development of low light level cameras, image intensifiers used for night vision, and then on to developing thermal cameras which are used today by fire and rescue crews.

Later work was involved in developing a compact dental x-ray camera for instant display and then cameras for use in satellite imaging.

He really enjoyed the work and I think he was sad to retire at 65 I’m sure he would have worked on had it been an option then.

Mum worked all her life as a housewife doing an excellent job of looking after the house supporting Dad and the family.

We had many memorable family holidays some notable ones being towing a caravan through Scotland, North Wales, and many trips to see the relatives in Somerset, the Shorts, the Baldies and the Savages.

Dad continued to play rugby for a number of years but later went on to play golf with a passion, being a member at a number of clubs and winning quite a few trophies.

In his later years he was a member at Braintree golf club and moved with them to the new course at Sisted. Unfortunately, with increasing age and failing eyesight due to Macular degeneration, he had to give up his beloved game.

Dad was always very supportive of his family and was always able to offer good advice and help when needed.
Unfortunately in his final years he was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer which had already spread to the bones but despite this he managed to survive for a further 6 years living pretty independently with the help of mum, Lynne and Ian, only really deteriorating in the last few months.

However, as you can see he had a very full and happy life, achieving much in his 90 years on Earth.