Tigger Club News
By Animals - For Animals
news@tigger.club

 

John Woodward

Tell me a bit about yourself.
I am a big fan of fishing, football, cars, and retired greyhounds.

What is your profession?
I am a demolition engineer but these days I am mostly retired but I do the odd job now and then if required.

Did you have to do training?
I left school and went to college to study an HNC in Civil Engineering and then moved into demolition about 35 years ago. I have since passed numerous exams in the profession and I am now an Honorary Fellow of The Institute of Demolition Engineers and I have served as a President of that Institute. 



How long does it take?
In the words of a colleague in the industry "every day is a school day" so I guess I am still learning, particularly as AI has moved on so rapidly over the last five years.

Why did you want to do this profession? 
At school I wanted to be an architect but my careers advisor said it would be difficult to get into that profession unless I already knew someone in it so I changed to civil engineering and then swapped to demolition after going onto a demolition site on a two week contract and finding I loved the work.



What is your most bizarre moment?
When I worked for Doyle Demolition at Birmingham Airport we had to remove a large pedestrian footbridge which included a very tricky crane lift at about 08.00am which meant we had to hook up the bridge, cut the last piece of steel and then lift the bridge and turn it through 90 degrees and put it down in the car park.

We did it with no issues but as we sat it down everyone standing and watching outside the terminal (and there were a lot of people) burst into a round of applause. The team bowed to them then casually unhooked the crane.

Name one unusual fact about your profession.
People generally think we just hit things with hammers and the buildings fall down but the real skill is knowing what size hammer to use and where to hit it.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone wanting to enter that profession? 
Learn basic Maths and English, Listen, ask questions and don't be afraid to say "I didn't understand that, please explain it to me again"

Are you owned by any animals? 
Unfortunately not at the moment but Jill & I used to be owned by Ellie & Perry who write your excellent Pup quiz.
They are both OTRB now though.



Where is your favourite place to be?
At our chalet in Wales, next to an Italian lake or in a top quality restaurant looking at great food and a quality bottle of red wine.

What sort of music do you like? 
A mix really, grew up loving Motown and Northern Soul music (and went to many all nighters), moved more into jazz, classical and some rock bands.

What is your greatest accomplishment?
Marrying Jill. 

What is your next goal in life? 
Living to be as old as my Mum, Louisa, who was 96 on 11 December 2024.

How can everyone get in touch with you? 
By email mainly but i do like X (still Twitter to me) where you can find me at @johnwoodward or via facebook but I am not really a fan so I "dip in and out" of Facebook

Finally and most importantly... What was your most embarrassing moment? 
Probably many years ago in Prague when I spent several hours drinking in a bar by the river with a group of English men & women who I had never met before and only realising after about 2 hours that the lady I was discussing Prague with was Brenda Blethyn.