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Keith says farewell after 43 years loyal service

Keith HolderKeith HolderFriends and colleages gathered together at Brixton garage to wish Keith Holder a happy retirement following 43 years in the transport industry.

Keith has lived a full and eventful life. He came to this country from Barbados in 1959 and joined the tank regiment during National Service.

When he left the army he became a regular policeman, one of the first six black officers in London.

Keith left after 18 months to join London Transport because the “money was better”. But he did not give up policing completely because he was a ‘Special’ for 12 years. Later he became a magistrate.

During the 60’s he also found time to add professional wrestler to his CV and once fought the great Mick McManus.

An active member of the London Transport’s social scene, Keith learned to fly and was secretary of the flying club at Victoria. He piloted a Spitfire and LT’s own four-seater Cherokee aircraft. He was qualified to take people flying as guests.

He said: “The Spitfire was magnificent, it was as easy to fly as driving a car.”

If all that wasn’t enough, Keith was Victoria’s sports and social club secretary for 12 years.

“I believe in living life to the full,” said Keith.

He began his career on the buses in 1966 at Stockwell as a general hand and then took a mechanic’s course. But then he decided to drive and worked out of Victoria for 28 years on the Red Arrows and crew routes.

In 1996 “I wanted a change” and he moved back into engineering at Brixton as a general hand.

“I like variety and I like to keep busy,” said Keith. “As a general hand I can be called upon to do all sorts of things, from cleaning the buses to road testing them and doing maintenance work.”

Keith HolderAged 68, Keith said he’s looking forward to “having a bit of rest”. Unlikely for a man who likes to live life to the full!

Keith is married to Esmin and they have four adult children, one of whom, Claudette, is a driver at Brixton.

Keith concluded: “I’ve really enjoyed my career and worked with some great people. This is a good industry, you meet lots of people and there’s always something going on.”

 

Published: Thu 16 Sep 2010Modified: Thu 16 Sep 2010Archived: Thu 14 Oct 2010

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