Train driver Derek Grubb works 70 hours each week, 40 per cent of his salary is taken away by the tax man ... and he isn't expected to complain.
Derek, needless to say, doesn't work for British Rail. The engines he drives are far away from his native Worcestershire. Derek works in the West African country of Liberia, near to the capital with the Dynasty sounding name of Monrovia — but the only Hollywood scenario is the African bush through which he rides and the drama of natives sleeping on the tracks.
It was in 1971 that Derek left Broadwas-on-Teme to work for a Liberian government mining company run by Americans.
During the 1950's, he had been a train cleaner at Shrub Hill Station, Worcester and by 1966 he had worked his way up to being a train driver, but steam was being run down and because Dr Beeching was axing branch lines, he didn't often get the chance to drive.
So, Derek accepted voluntary redundancy and set his sights on Africa.
"I couldn't see any future for me in Worcester", said Derek. "I was qualified to drive, but wasn't allocated many driving turns. In my opinion it wasn't a very glorious end to steam".
Derek's time at Worcester was broken by national service with the Territorial Army Royal Engineers Parachute Squadron.
His experiences with them in Germany and Cyprus, including 45 parachute jumps and Bailey Bridge building, stood him in good stead for the hard, daily regime he was to experience in Africa.
Derek's work can be hard and it can be rather unnerving in that relatively unstable part of Africa. But he wouldn't give it up.
After the mining company went under, he was taken on by the German company Krupps Thyssen who ship eight million tons of iron ore a year from Bong Mine. "It's situated about 45 miles from Monrovia, the capital of Liberia", said Derek. "With a population of about 1000 people, 30 of whom are British. |
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It's a complete little town around the mines. It has its own landing strip, accommodation and social facilities".
As one of only six drivers at the mine Derek takes his turn doing the different shifts and a 70 hour week is not unusual.
"We work a 12 hour minimum shift and we're not expected to complain if it's more. They pay well and don't expect complaints".
The government takes up to 40 per cent of his salary in tax, but even so, the pay is better than in Britain and the motivation to work hard is high.
The trains Derek Grubb drives between the mine and the docks do three journeys each day carrying about 3000 tons of ore.
Each train has only a driver and an African helper and considering the wild and open state of the countryside and the frequent military coups set off by tribal vendettas, it's a tough job needing stamina and nerve.
The weather too can be less than equable. During the rainy season the tracks can be washed away.
Even with average temperatures of 90 to 100 degrees, Derek still prefers the climate to that of Britain, particularly as his annual six weeks' holiday this year fell during one of the coldest Februarys on record.
Daily hazards can also include people — particularly in the bush lands and the suburbs of the city.
"People from the African suburbs drink a potent mixture called Cane Juice which is made from sugar cane", said Derek. "It's a real mind boggier and they just sit down on the tracks and go to sleep. There are plenty of deaths, about one or two a month during the dry season".
In the suburbs of Monrovia the railway track is used as a meeting place. Mothers often place their babies there when they do the washing and the result can be tragic if they forget about them.
Although the trains are industrial, passengers can ride in the cab with permission from the company. |
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A few weeks ago Derek suffered the unnerving experience of a young woman jumping from his moving train.
"It happened at 3.00am when I was travelling at about 40 miles an hour 12 miles away from the mine. I'd been talking to her and finding conversation quite hard", he said.
"I told her that we'd be arriving in about 30 minutes and she just got up and jumped off".
He stopped the train and walked back through the bush towards a river they'd just crossed.
"I expected her to be dead, but she was living although she looked like something out of a horror film", said Derek.
He carried her back to the cab and radioed for an ambulance to meet the train. "I unhooked the train and broke all speed regulations to get her back", said Derek who was rather shaken at the time, but finds he has become hardened to such incidents after 15 years.
His contract is renewed almost as a matter of course now and he enjoys the life in Africa, but nevertheless looks forward to his annual six weeks' leave.
In his spare time Derek indulges in his love of fishing, mainly alone as the shift work doesn't give him much chance of socialising with his colleagues.
One experience he will not forget, which makes him very pleased to see the good old 'British Bobby", is his night in a Liberian jail.
"It's quite an experience", he said.
"They put everyone who's had anything to do with a crime, or who happened to be around at the time, in a primitive cell for the night. By the time they come back to you, you've all sorted out who actually did it. I just happened to be around when some money was stolen and although I had nothing to do with it, they put me in with the rest".
"It was less than primitive and if prisoners here experienced it they'd never complain about British prisons ever again".
Meanwhile, Derek is spending the final few days of his holiday visiting friends and relatives in Worcester-shire and generally 'enjoying" the British winter, before going back to the hot sticky climate of West Africa. |
James John Grubb Family
*James John Grubb
Born: 19th November, 1894.
Married:
*Maud Amelia Jelf
On: June qtr., 1924.
At: reg. Worcester.
Children:
Cecil James Grubb
Born: 31st July, 1925.
[reg. Worcester]
Died: 17th August, 2010.
Buried: Livingstone, Zambia, Africa.
Audrey Maud Grubb
Born: 6th May, 1928. [reg. Worcester]
Married:
Roderick S. Griffin
On: June qtr., 1963.
At: reg. Martley.
Died: 5th April, 2012.
[*Maud Amelia Grubb, died 30th March, 1930 - aged 27] |
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*James John Grubb [19-11-1894 - 21-6-1960]
Married:
Desame Gladys Jelf [19-2-1906 - 2- 11-1998]
On: September qtr., 1932.
At: Worcester.
Children:
Desmond Grubb
Born:
September qtr., 1933.
[reg. Worcester]
Derek George Grubb
Born: 24th February, 1936.
[reg. Martley]
Married: Sheila Jones
On: 26th March, 1988.
At: Bong Mine, Lutherian Church, Liberia, Africa.
Died: 7th March, 2023.
Jacqueline E. Grubb
Born: June qtr., 1942. [reg. Martley]
Kenneth James Draper
On: March qtr., 1962.
At: reg. Martley. |
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1901 Census - RG 13/2775 Parish of St. Leonards, Cotheridge, Worcestershire.
John Grubb - age 37 - Agricultural Labourer - Born: Cotheridge, Worcestershire.
Emma Grubb - age 41 - [wife] - Born: Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
Bertha Grubb - age 8 - [daughter] - Born: Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
*James John Grubb - age 7 - [son] - Born: Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
Janet Grubb - age 5 - [daughter] - Born: Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
Elizabeth Maud Grubb - age 4 - [daughter] - Born: Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
Address: Blackfields, Cotheridge, Worcestershire.
1911 Census - RG 14/17609 Parish of St. Leonards, Cotheridge, Worcestershire.
John Grubb - age 48 - Farm Worker, Labourer - Born: Cotheridge, Worcestershire.
Emma Grubb - age 52 - [wife] - Born: Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
*James John Grubb - age 17 - [son] - Born: Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
Elizabeth Maud Grubb - age 14 - [daughter] - Born: Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
Address: Blackfields, Cotheridge, Worcestershire.
1939 Register
Address:
Peg House Cottage, Wichenford, Worcestershire.
*James John Grubb - b. 19th November, 1894 - Agricultural Worker - Special Constable.
Desame Gladys Grubb - b. 19th February, 1896 - Unpaid Domestic Duties.
[4 more records are blanked out]
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Derek Grubb - with his band The Country Boys
Well so much about Derek Grubb I didn't know; this is one of him playing the guitar in his band The Country Boys [Colour from the original black and white one, supplied by Chris Wilkinson]. You can almost hear that Be-Bop_a_Lula by Gene Vincent being played. I guess this might be the building that they practiced in.
Derek Grubb - Train Driver
Derek Grubb, started his working life working on the railways and from 1952 to 1971 he learnt all about the different jobs and eventually became a train-driver. Unfortunately by the time he had learnt to drive a train the railways in the UK were in decline.
On 27 March 1963, Dr. Beeching published his report entitled ‘The Reshaping of British Railways’. The report identified profitable and unprofitable services and revealed great unevenness in the use and effectiveness of railways. It recommended the widespread closure of uneconomic routes. He identified another 2,363 stations for closure, along with 5,000 miles of track, in his report that aimed to prune the railway network back into a profitable concern.
Derek decided that it might be
an idea to perhaps go to Liberia where there was a lot going on with train drivers needed on the newly laid tracks to the mining areas.
A German-directed European-Liberian consortium set up the Bong Mining Company concession under the unquestioned leadership of the August Thyssen Hütte in 1958. Located in the Bong mountain range in the Liberian hinterland, only around 90 km from Monrovia, the iron ore mine, the mining settlement, and the transport infrastructures were completed in 1965. Thanks to the German managers' Wirtschaftswunder optimism, the mining operation was repeatedly expanded between the late 1960s and early 1970s. Among other things, a pelletizer plant was added. The structures were built by joint ventures of construction companies led by the German general contractors Grün & Bilfinger and Philipp Holzmann. Still, contracts were also handed to Italian partners, such as Imprese Italiane All'Estero or Baselli Bertani and to the US company Raymond International, which had operated in Liberia for decades. Scandinavian companies initially supplied the pre-fabricated parts for the houses in the mining settlement.
The mine was planned together with large settlements. Some of them were designed to house the exclusively Liberian "workers" (company terminology). They were located closer to the mine. Others were designed for the mostly international "employees" (again, company terminology). The company built spacious bungalows for its senior staff. Junior staff were housed in more modest family homes and single men in shared living units. Workers inhabited row houses. All of this reflected a multi-layered hierarchy of assumed entitlements and needs. For example, there was some question as to whether the kitchen should connect to the living room or to the outside. In any case, the BMC provided more generous workers' housing than the Swedish-American LAMCO concession. Central institutions, such as the hospital, the school, and the Lutheran church, were located between the two settlements.
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As you can see here, not everything ran smoothly; Derek gave Chris Wilkinson several of these type of photos of accidents.
Here you can see Derek where one of the trains has tilted over, which would have meant a considerable amount of work to get it back upright and on to the track. The track you can see is buckled, and so all of this would have needed to be repaired also.
Derek Grubb - Marriage
Derek outside the Bongo Mine, Lutherian Church, on Monday the 26th March, 1988.
The Bride and Bridegroom leave the church, after their marriage, in a Landrover sporting the Just Married sign and with the famous cans tied to the rear of the vehicle to notify all those on their route to the reception at the Golf Club of their happy occasion.
Derek and Sheila Grubb
Here are photos of Derek and Sheila Grubb chilling out during the years that they were married and living at the Bongo Mines in Liberia, Africa.
Derek was a train driver there, where he drove tons of iron ore a year from the Bong Mines to Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.
Sheila's parents were Gordon Philip Lloyd Jones and Rosemary Marth Gotze
Sheila Rosemary Lloyd Jones was born on the 5th March, 1954.
Baptised on 5th September, 1954, at St Mary Magdalene, Broadwas, Worcestershire.
Gordon Jones was my cousin, his father Francis Cuthbert Jones owned the Esso Garage at Broadwas. Frank was my Uncle and brother to my mother Doris Jones, who later married Ted Holland; my parents.
Derek Grubb - Back at Broadwas
Eventually Derek returned home after living in Liberia from 1971 to 1985. In this photo you can see Derek and his brother Des working on one of the many contraptions
that they would always be tinkering with and making to run again. Both of them loved working on their motorbikes and vehicles. They had a wood behind where they lived and I guess this where the photo was taken. There is another photo where they had a banner over this vehicle saying, "WELCOME HOME OLD SPERRETT". I know the word Sperrett means a Spike or Spur, but perhaps this had another meaning to Derek and Des.
From 1985 to 2002 Derek spent a lot of time working on the railways as a signalman. He went on a course after his return to the UK and worked at many of the signal boxes in Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Those known were Leominster, Wooferton, Newland, Ludlow, and Henwick in St. John's Worcester.
Derek
brought his landrover back from Africa, but this is another one that he had, seen parked outside Broadwas Church where he often was doing work on behalf of the Royal British Legion; which he was a member of.
Derek did lots of good things for the local area and will always be well remembered. When I did see him I loved to hear about his escapades and some times a little about what he was up to. I hope this article will bring back a few memories to others too.
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©peh
