Steve was at Mercury between 1966-8, when the school closed. He joined as a Hampshire Scholarship boy from the village of Blackfield, near Southampton, with the intention of becoming a Merchant Navy Deck Officer. Unfortunately, he failed his eyesight test due to colour blindness and instead, spent two years at the Southampton College of Technology training to be a Radio Officer.
He first went to sea between 1971 with Marconi Marine on Shaw Savill’s passenger liner Northern Star. In 1973 he joined Stephenson Clarke coasters until 1974, when he spent 18 months ashore testing guidance systems for sea to air missiles with EMI Systems and Weapons. Steve returned to sea in 1975 in Fyffes Group sailing on their vessels Matina, Matatic and Manistee.
He came ashore permanently in 1978, settling into a job with the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) at Fawley Power Station, where his skills and management abilities were quickly recognised. During his time at Fawley, Steve rapidly gained experience and, after completing his HNC in Electrical Engineering, worked hard to gain promotion through the ranks from general maintenance to Process Leader. As Process Leader he was in overall charge of shifts at the power station. His work also included several spells seconded to the Kuwait Ministry of Electricity and Water, firstly between 1984-5 to commission a new power station and then 1991-3 to recommission the Alzoor Power Station after the Iraqi invasion. Later, as part of his involvement with generating unit simulators, he made trips to Sweden and Poland. He retired from the CEGB in June 2012. On retirement from CEGB he oversaw the trials of the new Hythe (Hants) Cogen plant.
In 2004 Steve and Yvonne bought a 60’ narrow boat, which was their pride and joy on which they spent many happy summers cruising the canals of England. His other passion was golf and he was a member of Barton-on-Sea Golf Club.
A keen supporter of our Association, he joined the Committee as Honorary Secretary and served between 2003 to 2016 at which time, sadly, he felt compelled to give up due to failing health. As Honorary Secretary his commitment was enormous and the former committee members and the Association owes him a huge debt of gratitude. He died aged 68 in June 2020 after a long struggle and will be greatly missed by our Association and his many friends.