IVOR HUTCHINSON

A capricious collection of randomish stuff

So Who Am I?

Google shows that there is indeed far more than one Ivor Hutchinson, which comes as a bit of a blow to my uniqueness. But this one is me. Having spent the best part of 40 years working in the IT world (with CAP, BAe, and Sheffield Hallam University in three of its incarnations), I took voluntary redundancy and retired in August 2011.

 

I now live in a leafy suburb of north Sheffield, with enough pleasant walking areas to see me through the multiple lockdowns. Although, having walked hundreds of  miles around the woods and Chase since the first lockdown started, it has started to pall more than a bit…

 

Still love walking and can fly along the flat or downhill;  but the legs and lungs are getting reluctant, so uphill tends to be a struggle now. Add it to the list of old-age grumps…

Ivor Hutchinson

And Who Was I?

Born in Brigg, Lincolnshire, quite a few years ago; educated to the best of many teachers’ abilities at Brigg Infants, Brigg County Primary, and Brigg Grammar up to December 1967.

 

With then a nine-month gap before starting life at Brasenose College, Oxford, I spent some time working for ICI in Runcorn, living first with an elderly couple in Weaverham and later in shared digs in Runcorn itself. Not a particularly enjoyable time as the work was tedious, so I moved up the ladder to being a fitter’s mate on the coke ovens at the Appleby-Frodingham steelworks in Scunthorpe… In spite of what must have been a very unhealthy atmosphere around the ovens, I absolutely loved it and still consider it as possibly the best job I have ever had (but then I had no responsibilities, of course!)

 

Onward to Oxford for four years, and isolation from the real world. Quickly met a new group of friends, and many delightful times were had, many of which I can’t remember and several that are probably not suitable for publication. After a successful first year (during which I attained an absurd mark of 123% in a maths Prelims exam), things fell apart somewhat in the second year as studies were neglected in favour of more pleasurable activities. Regrets? Absolutely none – it was a truly magnificent time! Third year was spent repairing as much of the damage as possible before Finals loomed, followed by a final fourth year spent in the labs and culminating in a thesis before being awarded a 2nd (which is probably more than I deserved): BA (Oxon), later upgraded to MA (Oxon) with no further effort on my part – sic Oxonium.

 

(The photo is an example of what AI can do to an old, poor-quality image!)