Peter Ronald Beck - A Life

I am partially writing this since, as people may have noticed in the past, I tend to be transfixed by old photos. The above is one of my father, taken in 1953 (ish) by my mother just before they got married. He sadly past away last month on the 5th February 2022 at the ripe old age of 92. The other reason I decided to write this, is, on reading the eulogy my elder brother Cliff wrote, I was struck my father's life story added to a debate that came to the fore recently on Linkedin. In my particular industry many jobs were lost due to the ravages of the response to COVID-19. As these jobs were lost we increasingly saw posts from people (many my age or thereabouts) saying how upset they were that many employers would not see them since they did not have a degree, even though they could prove some thirty odd years in the industry. I often posted a reply in support of these folk, since I too learnt 'on the job' so to speak.

What is interesting reading the history of Peter Beck, engineer, is he never got a degree. Yes he made use of evening classes at Southhampton University College when he was young, but not a degree to his name. His whole career was learnt on the job. Practical hands on experience starting as an apprentice tool maker in 1943. I think employers are waking up to the real dividends to be had through this sort of career path which is good, but this is way overdue.

In order to encourage this I have copied a shortened version of my brother's eulogy below - read it and you will see what I mean - from apprentice tool maker to engineering management without a degree would still be very rare now. Then, that practical approach would have been deemed an asset.

I think this is a particularly important subject for an industry like mine, where experience and learning from the broken down van up are very important lessons. As an added bonus to fans of my old photo habit, I have attached a further photo of my father and mother in their Hollywood heyday. My mother tells me the bride is wearing a dress in white velvet, handmade by the house of her Aunties Beat and Daisy - designers of note!

Eulogy - Peter Ronald Beck, by Cliff Beck

Dad was born in Lymington, Hampshire in an era of hunger marches and educated against a backdrop of air raids and blackouts. He also suffered the loss of his father when he was 12; a death that would have been avoidable in the post war welfare state. He came out of these experiences with three great assets: an intolerance of injustice and undeserved privilege; a good education which fired a desire for self improvement; and like many who grew up during the Battle of Britain, a fascination with aircraft.

Despite doing very well at school he rejected a post in a solicitors office to pursue a career as an engineer, becoming an apprentice toolmaker at Welworthy's Piston Rings Ltd, before transferring to the draughtsman's office as a trainee whilst studying part time at Southhampton University College.

On completion of National service in the RAF he turned down a commission and moved to London shortly afterwards to work as an engineering draughtsman for Napiers, a company designing jet engines. Although this was the last time he worked in aeronautics, he never lost his fascination for airplanes. Much later in life when he was 80 he visited the D-Day Landings Museum in Normandy and spent most of the time explaining in great detail to everyone why the labelling of various parts of the warplanes was incorrect.

My mum had also moved to London to improve her career prospects and the two met by chance on the Southhampton to London train. They fell in love and engagement was followed by 67 years of marriage which produced three sons and was very much the corner stone of the rest of their lives.

As he progressed up the ladder dad never lost his intolerance of injustice and at one time was a shop steward with a leading role in an engineering workers strike and wage negotiation. Once settled into the management side of engineering he and mum took what was then the unusual and farsighted step of buying the Chiswick house they rented, staying in it for the next 40 years until they downsized to Uxbridge to provide for retirement.

The Chiswick decades were busy ones with a growing family and roles as a Church Warden, Parochial Church Councillor and a member of the District Committee of the Boy Scouts. In addition, after redundancy struck for the second time he ran a very successful engineering company with mum largely from the living room table. Then my brothers started a band and ran a PA Hire and Sound Engineering business from the same house and phone, effectively transforming extremely busy days into a 24/7 cycle of deadlines and crises that was littered with A1 drawings, contacts and specifications by the end of the day, and by amplifiers, speakers and refugees from the previous nights gig by the next morning. Mad it might sound, the energy, good humour and mutual support of all involved made a success of both enterprises

The move to Uxbridge coincided with retirement and winding up the business, which had by now built a string of food processing and refrigeration plants throughout the UK...................

RIP Peter Beck!