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John Marshall

John belongs to: Souter Lighthouse

John was born in South Shields. He is the fifth generation of Tyne pilots in his family.

John was interviewed by Carl Greenwood on 12 April 2006. The interview took place at Discovery Museum and lasted 28 minutes and 26 seconds.

Photograph of John Marshall on the pilot cutter

Routines and changes

"The routine at the time, well, we had quite a number of pilots. When I started as a pilot there was something like 56 pilots"

The routine at the time, well, we had quite a number of pilots. When I started as a pilot there was something like 56 pilots. The work at the time was starting to decrease for pilots; the shipyards were starting to close, the coal trade was in a bit of decline and the, although the shipbuilding and the ship repairing was still quite prolific. However, as the, as the years went on, the river went into a gradual decline until the, the 80s when we had a big change in the regime.

The new legislation came in, it was government legislation, that transferred the responsibility of pilot leaderships from the then pilot authority to the Port of Tyne authority. So the Port of Tyne authority, they decided that they wanted 12 pilots and at the time we had something in the region of 20, 27. So there was a redundancy scheme offered and most of the pilots who were over 50 elected to take that. And of course at the time I was, I was under 50 and I still wanted a job so I became one of the 12 pilots in 1988 to work for the new regime and contracted to the Port of Tyne authority.

And since then, the trade has increased as the number of pilots has decreased, so the work that I’m doing now is almost double the amount that I used to do when I started as a pilot.

John has 24 memories in the memorynet:

John's memories with a Safety theme:

•  Climbing the pilot ladder

John's other memories:

•  Growing up in a family of pilots
•  Pilot apprenticeship
•  Sea time
•  Routines and changes
•  Role of the pilot
•  The pilot cutter
•  Boarding the ship
•  The pilot uniform
•  Relationship between pilots and masters
•  The Bonga
•  The future for piloting on the Tyne
•  The Tertia
•  The pilot ladder
•  Pilots and cobles
•  Car carriers
•  Boarding a ship by helicopter
•  Master's Certificate
•  Pilot's certificates
•  The Bonga
•  The pilot ladder
•  John's father
•  Pilot's Handbook
•  Pilot's notebook

This memory has these themes:
Change | Roles and Routines | Work

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