Geoff Lee
Draughtsman turned successful writer, Geoff Lee, having been made redundant, took a life changing career break in 1984 to join the Diploma of Higher Education course at Bradford College.
Before he became a mature student, Geoff had worked in
industry for over 20 years as an electrical draughtsman. After
obtaining his Diploma, he moved to Bradford University,
graduating in 1988 with a degree in Social Sciences
(Sociology/Politics).
Within days of finishing his last exam,
he was offered a job with the Central Electricity Generating
Board. In more familiar surroundings again, he decided to
write a novel based on the old saying about being at work: “They could write a book about this place. It would be a best
seller.”
He then went on to write another three, all set in the
latter part of the twentieth century.
One Winter, originally called Tales of a Northern
Draughtsman is set in an engineering drawing office with a
background of romance, rock ‘n’ roll and rugby league during
the winter of 1962/63. One Spring, set in the 1970s and One
Summer, set in the 1980s, with redundancy replacing rock ‘n’ roll, followed.
“My latest novel One Autumn covers work, family life and
rugby league in 1992. One of the characters in this saga
of northern life is the tea girl Hazel Hutton. She works at
the Wilkinson Engineering Works in my fictional Lancashire
town of Ashurst. In 1984, she decides on a career change
and in the chapter ‘The Hutton Report’ she comes to study
at Bradford College! Unlike Hazel though, I never achieved
my aim of becoming a teacher but despite that, my time at
Bradford College was time well spent.”
Geoff now hopes that One Winter may make it on to the big
screen because last November Pinewood Studios asked to be
sent a copy.
Photograph by Trevor Griffiths