Have you met Larry?

I want to you to meet Larry, my superb surveyor here at Westbury.

Larry turned 75 recently and I thought it was only right to tell you about him. He is a such an invaluable member of my team, and with a wealth of knowledge and experience, I cannot thank him enough for his all he does for Westbury.

Larry's Background

A descendant of the Beamish family of County Cork, known for the founding in 1732 of the Beamish & Crawford brewery, Larry’s roots are to be found in Ireland. He was duly christened Lawrence, but from early on fondly known by family and friends as Larry. 

A child born during the war Larry was evacuated with his mother to Scotland and settled for a time in historic Clackmannanshire, noted for being the country’s smallest county with the longest name. Commonly abbreviated to “Clacks”, the town was a little hive of industry, from brewing to glass manufacture along with mining and ship building.

His earliest memories are of happy days spent in his Aunt’s garden in the mill town before moving back to South London where, after his father returned from service in The Royal Navy, the family expanded to include a younger brother and sister.

A brief family move to Essex in his early years prompted Larry to have his first life lesson in the form of a friendly neighbour who instilled in him the values of respect and common decency. This early encouragement to stay on the straight and narrow put Larry on a path to become the role model that he is today.

Growing up in South London and with roots immersed in the area Larry’s early years were typical of the time.

Larry’s father, a colourful character, was a true Bermondsey man of his era, fondly described by his son as a real life “Del -boy”.

Father Beamish, having left the Royal Navy, followed the trend for Rotherhithe men at the time and became a dock worker. Larry remembers hilarious stories of the time, centred around the men known as “dockers”. Waterfront manual labourers their quarry was to load and unload various and often unusual freights which arrived in the docks. 

He latterly settled in work at a local bakery where Larry eventually joined him for a time.

Uncle Joe Beamish enjoyed good fortune when he won the pools, the lottery of its day. The princely sum of ￡75,000 in 1963 enabled Joe to fulfil a dream and relocate to Cornwall to run his own hotel.

Larry left school in South London at 15 when he attained a scholarship to the renowned Sidcup Art College. The famous college was sadly demolished in recent years, the site now home to a large Morrisons store.

With an eclectic alumni the college was known to attract students with an artistic leaning and Larry enrolled at the same time as none other than Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones fame and Dick Taylor who went on to form The Pretty Things.

Larry formed a close bond with Richards no doubt largely due to their shared passion for music.

When Richards decided to form a band he invited Larry to come on board, sensing his innate musical talent.

Larry, by now decided on a career in signwriting and commercial artistry declined the offer but the two remained friends and Larry has great admiration for his pal’s achievements.

Larry proudly started his first full time job straight after graduating from college at the ripe age of 17.

Having spent many happy hours listening to his father’s tales of travel and life at sea he was keen to follow him into the Navy but was swayed by his mothers reluctance to see her son join the armed forces. He decided his feet would remain on solid ground and he set out to carve his career in his native South London.

To Larry’s delight he was duly employed in his dream job when he accepted a job offer from a signwriting company. However, unfortunately he did not find the hoped for opportunities within the company to expand and grow. 

Although his ambition had been to learn the trade and one day potentially own his own signwriting business Larry decided it was time to move on and expand his fast growing repertoire of   skills.

His career path led to many different jobs enabling him to learn that multitude of skills.

These jobs included carpentry, working alongside and picking up valuable tips from brother Joe, upholstery, graphics and signwriting as well as a much enjoyed eight year stint as maintenance manager at Elstree Studios.

Larry enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Elstree and meeting the interesting and varied people who found themselves working there.

He also gained valuable experience in general building and his enviable skillset includes plumbing and electrics, all self-taught.

These transferrable skills have served Larry well and are a great source of help to the Westbury team.

Although Larry was born and lived his formative years in a society with poor regard for health and safety in the workplace, he firmly believes in the value of such legislation. This is largely due to personal experience of the dangers workers expose themselves to on building sites.

His own brother injured himself falling from scaffolding, an accident remembered as happening in the same year England won the World Cup.

He and his brothers in law acquired their fathers haulage firm and for a time Larry enjoyed life on the open road driving and HGV, fully licensed of course.

An absolute family man, Larry met wife Pam in the early years whist working with his father at the bakery.

Pam and Larry were married in 1965, a day Larry describes as the happiest of his life.

They went on to become proud parents to Zena and Aaron but experienced family tragedy when Aaron passed away from illness as a toddler.

Zena, described by Larry as a real daddy’s girl is her fathers biggest fan, he is her walking talking encyclopedia / dictionary and general go to person.

The Beamish family has expanded over the years to include four grandchildren and no less that twelve great grandchildren. Pam remembers all the birthdays and the family all enjoy an annual trip together to the Pantomime.

Larry’s is immensely proud of all his family and their respective achievements and proud that his artistic skills have been passed down the generations.

At 75 he enjoys a healthy and active lifestyle.

His pleasures are trips with Pam and the great grandchildren to see his beloved Charlton FC play and he also helps run a local football team.

Happily his love of music is still alive and Larry spends many hours happily playing acoustic guitar and writing songs. He is particularly proud of a song written in memory of his father and a particular sentiment he shared.

A man fearful of being idle, Larry continues to share his exhaustive and invaluable experience with the team at Westbury, a great support to the team and a role model to all.

His role in the office brings great personal satisfaction and in Larry’s wise words “something to get up for”. He enjoys the office environment and being part of the team. Having been headhunted over to Westbury by the director who he describes as being a great boss Larry is happy to use all his well learnt talents to productive use.

A most valuable asset to our team, Keith Richards if you are reading this The Rolling Stones loss was certainly Westbury’s gain!