The transcript that follows is from an interview with Gary Carpenter then aged 18, who describes the people he met and incidents that happened while he was working with his dad as a riggers assistant. I first met the Carpenters during a health and safety induction session at the Carpenters Road site and subsequently conducted interviews with each of them separately and one with them together. I was immediately struck by the closeness of their relationship and by the fact that this father and son team represented a very ‘old fashioned’ aspect of working class culture. Gary had started working with his dad as soon as he left school, and in effect became his apprentice. They both took great pride in the job, and also from the fact that to a large extent they were their own bosses. They were taken on as a team, controlled their own work process, and moved from site to site, deciding when and where they would work. At 18 Gary was earning very good money and drove a Lamborghini to prove it.
Read the full article here: Gary’s Olympic Game
Listen to an interview where Gary Carpenter talks about his Olympic Map
