Carl Leckey

Mr Carl Leckey. MBE. CF. Author.

I was born before WW2 as a child I knew nothing but war, rations and deprivation. But as I knew no other life I would say my childhood was very happy and full of adventure. I enjoyed my primary school despite some of the old witches masquerading as teachers due to the war shortages of regular teachers. I hated my secondary school attended infrequently and left at the earliest opportunity. I served on the Liverpool tugboats for fifteen years except for my two years compulsory national service in the British Army. I eventually rose to the rank of mate and enjoyed my time on the tugboats. I met a wonderful girl we got married and after a while we were the proud parents of two children, a girl and a boy. The company was taken over and I was made redundant. Whilst in hospital recovering from a broken leg I read an article about British Waterways short of experienced staff with nautical knowledge. I applied for and was successful in being appointed as Lock Keeper on a lovely set of Locks on a Cheshire River, way out in the country. We lived in a cottage on the Lock side for next forty years. Soon after I joined Waterways I organised the union locally to improve the very low wages and appalling conditions. I eventually became a national representative and one of the founder members of the Waterways pension fund. In this capacity I travelled and met employees on the UK waterways system nationwide. I began collecting their many humorous stories not knowing at the time what I would use them for. When I was forty seven I was awarded the Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship to study the waterways in the USA the Mississippi River and in China the Yangtze. This travelling fellowship is open to all UK citizens and I would encourage people to look it up and apply for this great opportunity of a lifetime. When I was fifty seven I was forced by ill health to take an early retirement. On that same year I was awarded the MBE by the Queen for services to British Waterways a very memorable day for me and my family. Rather than vegetate and unable to carry out physical activities due to arthritis I bought a computer took a writers course with the Open College of Art which I enjoyed and I began writing books.