Phil Mackie 1963 to 1970
Phil Mackie
The job of producing a social history of St Mary’s Grammar, relying on personal recollections as opposed to dry historical facts, is a challenging yet enjoyable one. Yet it is made considerably easier when you have people like Phil Mackie around.
Phil, originally from Abbey Wood, has a fantastic memory and an eye for historical detail capable of bringing so much of St Mary’s 1960s history to life.
His memories of the school during this time are numerous, but what of his life after leaving?
Phil spent most of his working life in the rail industry. In 1972, he joined the Stores Controller’s department of British Rail, Southern Region before, in 1979, moving to Eastern Region at King’s Cross.
Then it was back to Croydon looking after the Civil Engineer’s technical library. After privatization, he ended up back in Supply Chain:
“When a shoulder injury in 2014 kept me off work for three weeks, I started thinking about what to do next. A run through the numbers in the pension fund soon gave me the answer. I duly gave notice and in March 2015 I bade a sailor’s farewell to the world of work. I was very soon living the pensioner’s cliché ‘I don’t know how I ever found time to go to work.’”
Because Phil has always been very active outside work. During the 70s, he was involved in amateur dramatics and directed a play. “I’m not tempted to do any more,” he says, “but look back on my achievements with a certain sense of pride.
Phil was in a theatre company called The Abbeymead Players which performed in Abbey Wood in the 1970s and 80s. This was a play he directed.
In 1986 Phil became a volunteer with Cruse Bereavement Care: “When I found myself supervising others who were better qualified than me, it prompted me to study for a counselling diploma myself. When I retired, I briefly considered a second career in counselling, but soon decided that it would take more commitment than I really wanted to give. But I continue to volunteer for Cruse.”
Despite not being especially strong at History at St Mary’s historical research is now one of Phil’s passions and he created a special St Mary’s blog as part of a wider blog about his family history: “Researching my father’s old army dance band taught me a lot more about the music of the 1940’s – it wasn’t all just Glenn Miller. My rail industry career brought out the railway buff in me and I am a regular visitor to the National Archives at Kew, where I can be found ploughing through minute books of the early railway companies.
“I also attend quite a lot of live music events and it helps that I no longer have to get up for work after being out late on a school night!”
And how does Phil, who now lives in St Paul’s Cray, look back on St Mary’s?: “The fact I still have stories to tell more than 50 years later is testament that those seven years have been a major influence on me. The robust approach to childcare that we ‘enjoyed’ back then has rightly been consigned to history. But I certainly came out of it with a good education. I value in particular the enduring friendships that were forged.”
Links to Phil’s blogs are below: