John Bates

When I finished at Telopea I went straight to Sydney and enrolled at the UNSW. I completed the course in Civil Engineering and Graduated in 1972. I never really intended to go to Uni but I recall one morning in 1966 on the Telopea Park quadrangle when we were lined up in classes ready to go in for some exam or other. I knew exams were on but I didn’t know the subject and I asked my old mate Tony Bandle what the subject was. Adele Hoffman heard me and gave me a good ‘shock-horror’ expression and showed some disgust and I made a little pact with myself that I’d better do some work. Considering that I just about dropped out of pre-school I was always satisfied that I achieved that degree and that while I was finishing High School and at Uni I held down some sort of part time job as well.

I was dating Mandy in Sydney who was studying Fashion at East Sydney Tech College. She’d drag me off to a few wild parties spending most weekends together (with me sponging on her family for free meals). We also spent a lot of time meandering around the nooks and crannies of the Manly-Warringah and Pittwater area. It was a very memorable time and like most of us I got married in my mid twenties. Mandy and I have three sons: Daniel, Josh and Alex.

I worked in a consulting engineering firm in the city and became a partner there in 1978. Around 1982, I left the City practice, did a few jobs from a home office at a place I’d built in Davidson near French’s Forest and became more involved in site works and construction. Returning to Canberra in 1984 I’ve continued this type of work operating out of my home office in O’Malley.

These notes have been extracted from a longer submission by John which you can find on the 'Memories' page.