Frank's Autobiography

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		I was born in 1927 in a small terraced cottage at Shenley Brook End. My father worked on a local farm. I started school in 1931 at Shenley School which catered for pupils up to age 14. In1932 we moved to a new council house in Shenley Brook End to find electric lights - no more parafin lamps or candles! After passing the 11+ I went to Wolverton Secondary Modern School gaining an Oxford School Certificate. On leaving school I went to work for the Post Office Engineering Department. After completing a two year training course I was employed repairing telephones, telephone lines and exchanges. Between the Talbot Inn and Loughton Middle School there is a small brick building which was the original Shenley Church End telephone exchange. During the war I joined the local Army Cadets attached to the Shenley and Loughton Home Guard and on reaching 18 I joined the Home Guard proper, but was transferred to the Post Office section. My National Service after the war consisted of being in th RAF and working as ground crew on wireless maintenance in Lancaster bombers. One year after leaving the RAF I married my wife, Stella, and over the next few years we lived in various flats and houses in Shenley Church End and Loughton. We have two children, Gillian and Timothy, both of whom went to Shenley School which by now only catered for children up to 11 years. After Shenley School Gill and Tim both went to Bletchley Grammar School. In 1961 we bought our first house, a new semi-detached in London Road, Loughton, and in 1974 we moved to our present home which at that time was in Bradwell Road, but due to development we are now in Church Lane, Loughton. I served as parish councillor for about 25 years, 15 years as Chairman. During the development of the area many meetings were held which overflowed the Memorial Hall into the road outside. We fought hard against the original (Pooley) plan, as this would have demolished Loughton from the chapel to the church. Many long hours were spent with Milton Keynes District Council planners in attempts to get the best deal we could for Loughton. I like to think that Loughton, despite all the development, is a nice place to live. I was also on the church council of All Saints and was church warden for many years. Large projects completed in my time have been the restoration of the church tower and the South side. The one outstanding item was the new church room which brought the church into the 20th century with running water and toilets, the only new piece to be built on the church for several hundred years. I am also clerk and a trustee to the Loughton charities, and have been a trustee to the memorial Hall for many years. During these years I continued to work for the Post Office Engineering Department and when it was privatised and became British Telecom and later BT. For many years I worked maintaining the telephone exchanges in the area and was eventually promoted, taking charge of telephone exchange maintenance for an area stretching from Buckingham, around all of North Milton Keynes to Woburn Sands. I retired from BT in 1987 after 43 years and received the Imperial Service Medal on my retirement. Since leaving work I have continued to help in various ways to preserve Loughton and its institutions. For services to the community of Loughton, Milton Keynes, I was awarded the MBE in the year 2000 honours list. I was presented with my award by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace on March 7 2000.

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