Having failed so miserably at my studies, I was left with some choices. Either I return to
Atherstone (not an entertaining prospect), or I move to Cardiff, or I move to Bristol. I opted for Bristol on the grounds there was likely to be more work available.
My first address was in Westbury Park in a bed & breakfast "establishment". I was told that the price included breakfast, and moved in accordingly. Then they told me the breakfast bit was a scam to get more money off the social, and no breakfast was actually provided. It was squalid, despite Westbury Park being an area of subdued grandeur. There was a Waitrose there, which I visited infrequently, but found a great like for their wholemeal shortbread. My stay in Westbury Park was short-lived and very quickly I found myself in a Christian hostel in Clifton. Again this was not very suitable accommodation; I had far too much stuff for the space allowed. Not long after I found a much more suitable place to stay in the Chessels in
Bedminster. I shared a house with a guy called Philip who I grew quite fond of.
I started attending the Salvation Army in Bedminster which was a nice fellowship. I was very happy in the Chessels; there was a nice community feel about the place. I got my first job whilst living there, working as a voluntary clerical assistant at the Friends of the Earth office, and in April 1985 I got my first paid job as a Typist with Avon Play Service, a community programme in the same office. I also joined the trade union (NUPE). Unfortunately the job, being a government scheme, only lasted 12 months.
Whilst working at Avon Play Service I moved out of the Chessels to a bedsit on Coronation Road in Southville. Just round the corner from where I was living was a former church hall and in it was a theatre, run by St Paul's Players. I noticed one day an advert for an audition for a play they were putting on -
Under Milk Wood - and they needed a lot more people than any normal production. I got the part of Mog Edwards. I also developed my joy for props, and helped out in the props department.
My second play was in November 1985 where I had the part of Gerard in
Abelard and Heloise, but this was only a bit part, most of my time was spent doing props.
I also took part in a production of
The Crucible, again a bit part, spending the rest of my time doing props. I wasn't involved with any other productions. This was mostly because I had moved again in 1986 to the Stokes Croft area of the city.
I also got a new job coinciding with the passing of the 1986 Transport Act which deregulated bus services in England & Wales. My new job, another community programme post, was as the Public Transport Information Worker at the
Hartcliffe Community Information Centre. My first task was to get the timetables of all the bus services in the Hartcliffe area, and then to provide the timetables for any members of the public who wanted them.
Quite early on during my time there I went to the local parade of shops one lunchtime and asked for a Salad Sandwich - they asked me if I wanted Beef Salad, or Ham Salad, or Chicken Salad - and I said no just Salad - and to make me even weirder I wanted it on brown bread. Every lunchtime thereafter I had to have a Salad Sandwich on brown bread - and they made it specially for me when they were making the other sandwiches, kept it on one side, and it was waiting for me for lunchtime. That was sweet of them, but highly repetitive.
During this time I kept up on my by-election trail visits, helping mostly Liberal Party candidates. In January 1986 I travelled to Northern Ireland to help the Alliance Party in the famous "Anglo-Irish Agreement" by-elections, when all the Unionist MPs resigned their seats. I helped out in Belfast South and in North Down. I did not tell my mother until I came back. The other by-elections I helped at were Fulham (April 1986), West Derbyshire (May 1986), Newcastle-under-Lyme (July 1986), Knowsley North (November 1986), Greenwich (February 1987) and Eastbourne (October 1990).
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