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Summing up, started in 1953 with all the family Jack worked aboard until 1976. Maybe the pay was not huge but they stayed at lovely, pleasant places with good climates. The family certainly enjoyed it.

This can be compared with what he had found at the end of the war. He had become annoyed just preparing schemes that were then left filed in drawers. The St.Alban’s bye-pass, for example, takes one hundred and fifty drawers full of plans! They were completed before the war, yet they were still arguing over the route! On the one side there was Lord Berryman, with his estate and on the other side, the Ministry of Works with their Ancient site and monuments. One side was pushing one way the other pushing in the opposite direction. There was a big bulge around St. Alban’s which was later absolved into the M1.

Jack was so frustrated and when he saw the chance to go to Trinidad with the public works department as a way out. All the family went including Motty, his mother-in-law. Straight away there was something to do and organise, contracts, and running down to the oil fields.

He stayed there for three years. Altogether we were away for twenty-three years apart from the short period in Brockley Hill, Stanmore, looking after that little piece of Motorway, and the break back in England.

Some notes from Jack Wallis that our research into the family have brought to light.

In the eighteenth century his great grandfather was a pupil at Christ’s Hospital School from1737-1744.

In the Nineteenth century his Uncle was also a pupil there, from 1885-1891.In this century Jack’s grandson attended between 1983 - 1990. Jack wrote how Christ’s Hospital School was moved from London to Horsham in 1902 and throughout that time the school uniform has remained the same.

A comparison with modes of transport provides a perfect example: A typical holiday excursion for Jack, during his early childhood years, was a trip with his parents on the uncovered top deck of a 73 solid tired bus. They would travel from Stoke Newington to Kew Gardens or Richmond Park. A waterproof cape or cover attached to the seat gave protection in the event of a rainstorm. In this modern age when he travels on holiday he crosses the Atlantic in a Jumbo Jet at some five hundred and fifty miles per hour. Regular visits are made to his youngest daughter, Delia, in North America. He also takes occasional trips to Australia some ten thousand miles away, to visit family and friends as a special treat. With all the travelling he has had in his career on Engineering projects in the third world, together with the accompanying experiences, he must personally rate the Twentieth Century as a good one to have lived in.

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