Steve Slater – my father

My father, Stephen (Steve) Slater was born on 24th March, 1926 In Blackburn, Lancashire. He was the third child of Alfred and Ellen. Stephen had a sister, Mary and a brother Francis (Frank). Alfred and Ellen had two more daughters later - Veronica (Vera) and Olive Patricia (Pat).

Stephen went to St Alban’s primary school. In 1937 he passed the 11-plus and went to St Mary’s College in Blackburn. This must have been a big achievement at the time. His brother, Frank had passed the 11-plus a couple of years earlier. St Mary’s College had opened in 1925 to educate Catholic boys who managed to pass the 11-plus or scholarship. They took pupils, not just from Blackburn but from Darwen, Rossendale, Burnley and even as far away as Colne. The intake each year was only about 30 boys so to be accepted from that catchment area was a huge achievement.

Steve did well at St Mary’s College and was awarded his school certificate in 1942 having passed English Language, English Literature, History, Geography and gained credits in French, Latin and Maths. You had to pass all subjects to be awarded the school certificate. This was before O-levels. I can understand him getting a credit for Maths since this was his forte but the credits for Latin and French are a surprise since his stories about his confrontations with Fr Stuart, the language teacher were commonplace.

In 1944 after volunteering for the Royal Navy and being placed on the reserve list Steve joined the Air Training corps. He remained with them for two years leaving in February 1946. His leaving certificate describes him as:

Enthusiastic, reliable and capable. Not afraid to take a lead in anything. Took proficiency at first attempt. Captain of squadron football team leading them to final in competition between squadrons in this district. A really good type and can be fully trusted.

5 days after leaving the air training corps Steve was called up by the Royal Navy and served his national service with the fleet air arm. From his service record we can see that he was trained as an air mechanic and worked at shore based bases at HMS Daedalus, Lee on Solent, Melksham and HMS Blacktop, Stretton. He worked on barracuda, firefly, firebrand, Oxford and seafire, all carrier borne aircrafts. The seafire was a naval version of the spitfire. His record describes him as a good all round mechanic.

Steve married my mother, Mary Patricia (Pat) Slater in 1948 and they moved in with my maternal grandparents and my uncle Bill in Whalley Range, Blackburn. It was a terraced house with three bedrooms. Steve travelled each day to Manchester where he worked as a railway clerk.

I was born in December 1950 and my brother, David in 1952. My grandfather had died before David was born. Even so, space must have been at a premium. I can remember the toilet was outside, in the yard but up some steps. It was pretty cold sitting out there on a winter's day. Eventually the family moved to a bigger house in Little Harwood just a couple of miles away.

Steve left British Rail in the early 60s and retrained as a work study engineer. He worked at Dynamo Electric in Blackburn, Evertaut Ofice Furnishings in Darwen and Walkers Steel before retiring.