How did you get into scaffolding?

I wagged off school in 1974 to help me dad scaffolding and loved it, had to go back to school (sick as a chip) so helping headmaster at school build a stage for a play took my opportunity:evil: saw the head walking under me, i had a 16' and just dropped it on him and got expelled (he was ok honest) on to Eldon square after the strikes had finished and here i am 50 yrs old and still have a warped love of the tools and working offshore, great times, great friends over the years, yep have made lifes mistakes but not a bad man:D
 
The Scaffolding saga

I started as number 1 floor polisher in all of Croatia. I was working for my uncles
company which is very well known in the old country, he also has another company called "we Polish Your Pole", which my sister works for, you know the boom boom.

I then got asked to take word of our great polishing skillz that killz to Kangaroo land, and also my sister, you know for the boom boom.
So we were stow aways on the first Iron Ore Carrier going to Dampier.
We hid in the engine room and ate each others scabs, sometimes I sneak onto deck at night to keep my floor polishing skillz that killz tight,
and my sister, well......she was good for boom boom.

We arrived into Dampier where we snuck off the ship and went inland to meet the business partner who wanted to checks out our skillz that killz. His name was Nigel, no bigger than a 1.8 pole with a few doubles tied to it, he was not to interested in my skillz that killz which I had bought over from the old country, but luckily my sista apparently had the skillz that killz.

Nigel told me that I needed to go through law, i didn't know what this meant, but i went with him anyway, my sister stayed with the tribe, to give them boom boom. Nigel show me ways to access heights with these things called
poles and fittings, and a blunt rock .
I trained streniously for 3 days and 4 nights.

He then introduced me to his chief, "R2D2", who then used the blunt rock to peel my prick back, with this finall sacrifice, I was then given my advanced
scaffolders ticket.

I came back to the billage where my sister was perfoming the seagull trick, which is an old tradition back home amongst family. I told her of my new learnings and how i use B's instead of V's and bisa bersa. I said of my great incounter with R2D2 the scaffold guru and how my new mission was to find work amongst Ozzie skippies and make my way to the top with the big dawgs
offshore, zoom zoom......

To Be Continued
 
your cracking me up michael lol i started back in 99 my mates dad was the contract manager for ssl (salamis/sgb merger in grangemouth on the kgxx project in the refinery got me a start as a apprentice n been the game ever since, met some characters i can tell you,wouldnt change it for the world:)
 
my uncle the darling man got me a job on his firm in the yard at 15 only doing weekends. when i left school he convinced me to go out on the street with him and 15 years later im still going and i really enjoy my job. my uncle did not let me have a tool belt for 3 years, i had to learn the hard way, but i thank him for it now. my uncle is now my bitch ha ha and we still have a great relationship with each other
 
belt

you lucky fooker , only 3 years to get ya belt ? took me five , but then hey m,ay be i was crap lol , but 23years later still love the game.;):eek::D
 
i started up in 2003, just come out the army.. ma dad said u best get a damn job son else ur out on ya ear, then next sentence was ur startin work monday so get ya **** together, didnt have a clue wot i was doin... sunday nite came n ma dad said u best eat ya wheatabix son ur workin in a scaffoldin yard as from tomorrow... started off loadin the wagons n all the usual yard lad jobs, then a scaff needed a labourer, n he picked me as i were the bigger of the 3 yard lads... bin on the spanners ever since.... love it, best job ive had... only worked 3 firms up in manchester... now ive moved down dover n have no job. :bigsmile:
 
How did you become a scaffolder

It has always interested me how some people became scaffolders.

Well here's my short storey.

I left school in 1986, I then got a YTS at GKN Kwikform in Hull here is where I got all my qualifications, they sent me to a colleague which most of you should remember "Bircham Newton" in Norfolk, I did a cecol course which meant I was there for almost a year, I did my part 1 scaff course which was ok, I did my part 2 scaff course which I thought was brill, then I did a system scaff course which i didn't like much (boring) then we where shown how to operate dumpers on site which I thought was strange but fun and finally we did the advanced scaff course which I thought was good. After 5 years at GKN the branch in Hull closed down so I went to a small firm which I finished my career on the the tools after 17 years, here I became a supervisor for 3 years which I didn't like that much, after that I became a estimator for the company which I loved and still do like estimating but after a few more years I became a contract manager and here I stand today and still love the scaffolding world.

From a Hull City Tiger
TAC
 
TAC
Although I never went that route I knew a lot of lads who did the CECOL course and most of them enjoyed it even though they were away for a year. The feeling was and is still is it was a damn fine course, shame they stopped it. One lad I know well from Lincoln was kicked off his outward bound at Eskdale because he gave one of the instructors a good going over!! The situation was that Vinny (My Mate) joined the course at a late stage and whislt at Eskdale was over 18 years, well once the daily actvities had finished and he had some free time he decided to frequent the local pub for a few pints....Once there and after a few beers a couple of Instructors walked in and told him all CECOLs were banned from the pub and he should make his way back to the centre....well what would you do?? he was breaking no law and as he says the centre is boring as f*ck at night....So he did what most of us would and told the Instructor to F*uck Off!! On this response the braver of the two decided if Vinny wasnt going peacefully then he would have to force him back up the road.....He made a grab for Vinny who promptly stuck nut on the joker dropping him to the floor were he also recieved some leather...if you know what I mean!! In the end he walked back to the centre in his own time and in the morning was told to leave and go home.

I think in the end he got a bollocking for the violence but completed his course all well and good!!

Who do you work for the TAC? I was at Rilmac in Lincoln for a while and knew a couple of Hull lads.
 
Rilmac

I work for a national engineering and rail construction company in North Lincolnshire that's why I travel across the UK.

I know a few lads and managers from Rilmac, the current managing director "Phil Larvin" and a contract manager "Colin Stephenson" who now has is own company (Tilson Scaffolding) in Hull, both are very good friends of mine.

From a Hull City Tiger
TAC
 
TAC

I met Colin a few times, he was also big into his Rugby League, Phil I think I met only the once, has now left if my information is correct.

Very strange crowd Rilmac....have a very high staff turnover as I can testify....Strange how its "Never Their Fault" do you think it might have anything to do with the baffoon whos running the show!!???
 
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Rilmac

Me and Colin was and are still having banters about rugby league because he is a Hull FC fan and I am a Hull KR fan.


I don't know what Rilmac is like to work for and what there policy's are so I cannot comment how it is run.

From a Hull City Tiger
TAC
 
I did the same as you TAC,i was at Bircham the year before-1985 did the cecol then 4 year apprentaship with GKN stockport.
 
i started as a stager never evenin thicking of becoming a scaffolder.did that 4 about 2 years .went 2 ground working 4 abit ,then 1 saturday afternoon was in my local and a gang of scaffolders were out for 1 lads b-day,i knew sum of them as i live in a small town.they bet b-day boy 2 swim across the resavour out the bk sadly the lad never made it. me and my m8 swam out 2 try and save him. but no joy .1 of the lads i know said if i was stuck ever getting a job he wud give me a start.fair play 2 him and he stuck 2 his words and ive never looked bk ..best job ive ever had. i love scaffolding beat sitting in an office.
 
it was 1987,and i was out of work,(pits shut down)a lad i know asked me if i wanted three days work labouring for a scaff,been doing it ever since,went to bircham in 1990,part one,couple years later part two.then 2000.advanced.love the job,just cant do with all the idiots trying to do the job,but not properly.
 
I started this game in 1985 labouring to the old fella , I hated it . Every night I would have nightmares with someone shouting "pull another 200 of them 21s up" then wake up and it would all come true .
I learned the hard way labouring for two years and by the time I was 18 I had my part 2 basic card .Although I was qualified I still felt it was right to give the older guys their place and by doing so I learnt plenty . Did my advanced card in 2000 and have been offshore for the past six years after working on the street sweating my ******** off , worked for some great firms and some awful firms .
I have worked in Europe and all over the UK . Scaffolding has its bad points but has certainly treated me well through the years. :):):bigsmile:
 
I started 20 odd years ago and i only did it to give a good mate of mine a hand for the weekend but when i seen how good it can be i was hooked .
Once you have done it it seems there is no getting away from it as you think you can leave but some how it calls you back !
 
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