Hello there, Just a little bit of boring personal
stuff.
My name is
Michael A (Mike) Johnson,
I Married Anne (Palliser) in 1968 and we have 2
daughters, Joanne and Nicola, 2 grandsons, Samuel Joseph Leggott
I was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England in
1942, the third child of Ernest and Constance (nee Lockwood) Johnson. We moved
to Londonderry, Northallerton, North Yorkshire in 1952 to run a small village
shop. In 1957, just after I left school, we moved into the market town of
Northallerton.
The first couple of years of work
was spent on 4
different farms before deciding to join my father working at a bacon factory as
a van sales person. I learnt to drive with them and spent a few years both on
van sales and then on the delivery side.
A new carpet cutting and distribution factory
((Kossets) part of the Crossley Group) opened
in Northallerton and I worked there from 1967 to its closure in 1981. I then
went back out onto the open roads delivering building and plumbing products, 5
years later that closed and I found myself a job delivering vegetable oils. In
1989 I became a Civil Servant, working for the Ministry of Defence as a driver.
After three years I was facing redundancy for the third time but managed to get
a transfer to another MOD establishment. I am still there.
I was a member of the Territorial Army (Royal Signals) for 15 years and this gave me an interest in communications, so I studied for the City and Guilds exam and became a Radio "Ham" (callsign G0GCK). I only work local 2m now as computers took over my interest, time, and money.
Another of my interests is growing Fuchsias
(at one time I had nearly 140 plants)
I became a member of the Institute of Advanced
Drivers in 1994.
I was also part of THE Lighting Crew
who rig and work the lights for the
shows performed by the Northallerton Amateur Operatic Society, Amateur Variety
Company, and the Northallerton Male Voice Choir.
A few years ago my niece, Louise Palliser, showed me
the Family Tree she had done on the back of rolls of wallpaper, it was
impressive, but I felt that it would be easier to keep the records on a
computer, that started me thinking, and so here it all is.