Biography: Bill Eldridge

[Bill Eldridge]

I was born in London of Anglo Saxon/Irish stock which accounts for my good looks and intelligence. Moved to Essex aged 11 years and had a secondary education of which I failed to take advantage of and left school without qualifications. My parents tried to encourage me to do better but I think they realised that they could not penetrate my indifference/ignorance. Like most kids on a wholly working class estate the only professional I knew was the GP and he seemed to come from another planet so the horizons/experiences were restricted by the mono world we inhabited.

For several years did a variety of mostly dull, poorly paid jobs and then went into further education at the age of 27 years after which I worked in local authority residential units and finally qualified at the ripe age of 35 years as a care manager and remained in this work until retirement. Live in Brentwood, Essex a town 17 miles from London.

My political leanings have always been to the left and I sang "Vote, vote, vote for Mr Attlee, chuck old Churchill down the stairs" etc at the 1951 hustings with my mates, a bunch of ragged arsed ragamuffins. However, my political beliefs have always been a confusing, contradicting rag bag of constructs, but fundamentally left of centre. Likewise my religious beliefs are always unsettled, in flux but Christian at root.

The great pleasures are meeting friends,walking in new interesting places/locations, music, reading, cinema, art and being in the sun on a warm day in a garden perhaps with a drink and good company. And being sparked by a new notion whether at a theatre by a radio/tv programme or by a personal contact.