'When I began teaching petrol only cost three and sixpence a gallon!' - Pete Ladlow
PETE Ladlow is Scarborough's longest- serving driving instructor and has taught in excess of 12,000 people to drive during a career spanning 45 years. Reporter Susan Stephenson caught up with Pete to find out about his life on and off the road.
IT was a suggestion by Pete's wife, Pat, that led to his long and happy career as a driving instructor.
Following a medical discharge from the Royal Engineers Regiment due to a hearing problem in his teens, Pete was left feeling unsure what the future would hold.
He said: "I had signed up for nine years and I was so disappointed. It's one of the few times I've sat down and cried.
"I wanted to do a job in uniform but I couldn't go into the police or Fire Brigade because of my hearing. I decided I wanted a job where I could have a car and meet people – it was Pat who suggested becoming a driving instructor."
Middlesbrough-born Pete had already been working at a motor engineers and a building merchant in Scarborough when he decided to make the change.
He joined Crystals garage, formerly in Castle Road, as an instructor and went on to set up Ravine School of Motoring in 1965 – so named as he and Pat lived in Columbus Ravine at the time.
He said: "There were only six instructors in Scarborough when I started and there are now 56. The first car I taught in was a Ford Anglia which cost 550 brand new and petrol was only three and sixpence a gallon."
He added that lessons cost 17 and sixpence and the test was nine shillings.
Pete said: "Crystals got me started and I will always be thankful to them for that. And now, at the age of 67, I still have no intention of packing up – I have always enjoyed it."
Pete admits he has slowed down a little recently to spend more time with his wife, two daughters and four grandchildren, but he is still teaching plenty of students and is looking forward to reaching his 50th anniversary.
Pete has taught so many people to drive over the years he can't help but bump into them – however far he is from home.
He said: "Apart from Cyprus last year, I haven't been to a country where I haven't bumped into an ex-pupil. I've seen them in Bermuda, Thailand and Singapore."
What he really loves, however, is to see the skills he has passed on being used in and around Scarborough.
Pete said: "When you see ex-pupils driving buses, or ambulance drivers that you taught to drive saving lives, that's a wonderful feeling."
Over the years, Pete has experienced both the ups and downs of his profession and says that most of the mix-ups and funny stories are to do with verbal misunderstandings.
He said: "I once told a female student to get her eyes moving. She gave me a funny look and didn't say anything for a while. I asked if she was OK – it turned out that she thought I'd said another, more offensive word that sounds like 'eyes'!"
Pete admits that many incidents can seem funny afterwards, but may have been potentially dangerous at the time.
The worst lesson he can recall is when he was waiting for a student to take their test at the centre in Eastfield. They had arrived early and decided to go for a practise drive round the block.
He said: "We were near the Eastfield pub and I asked the lad to make a right turn onto Cayton Low Road. A car came flying along the road and went straight into the back of us at 60mph.
"We were both OK but the student did get whiplash. My insurance paid for a new test, lessons and his compensation payment went towards his first car – he passed first time! Luckily the incident hadn't put him off."
Pete says that members of the public are generally very considerate towards learner drivers, and the main obstacle they come up against is the sheer amount of traffic on the roads – and roadworks.
He said: "I try to take pupils where I know there won't be any roadworks. You don't learn anything sitting in a traffic jam."
Pete also thinks the test has got much more difficult over the years – it has certainly gone through a number of changes.
When he started teaching students did not have to reverse round a curved corner, parallel park or reverse into a bay. Rules, as we now know them, about indicating at roundabouts did not exist and there were no filter lights at traffic lights.
There was also no theory test and no assessment on looking under the bonnet.
Pete said: "When I started you could teach someone to drive in 10 to 12 hours from scratch. It's definitely much harder now. I get a few students each year where I have to tell them that I don't think they'll make it. It's hard but I have to be honest with them."
He still insists, however, that the most important element is experience, which cannot be taught.
"An instructor can make you listen to them, but breaking free of the apron strings is a different thing altogether," says Pete.
A teacher through and through, Pete gained a classroom teaching qualification from York University in 1974 and taught at Scarborough Technical College for nine years while still working as a driving instructor.
He taught the history of transport to 14 to 16 year olds and to adults at night classes.
In his free time Pete loves to play the organ and has taught himself over the last 15 years. He is also a keen photographer and enjoys taking pictures while away on caravan holidays to Goathland and the Lake District.
Pete is also a staunch member of the Scarborough branch of the Royal Engineers Association. He joined in 1990 and has been the honorary secretary for the last nine years.
He is also the social co-ordinator and has arranged many trips for members of the branch, in this country and abroad.
QUESTION TIME...
Star sign: Capricorn
Favourite film: Anything nostalgic, eg musicals
Favourite TV programme: Documentaries
Favourite music/CD: Brass band and musicals, especially Singing in the Rain
Favourite food: Home cooking
Favourite holiday destination: Austria and Goathland
Favourite part of Scarborough: The view from Wheatcroft over the bay to the castle
People you would like to invite to dinner: David Niven, David Attenborough, Mother Theresa and Einstein – what a party it would be!
Ambitions: I would like to see the Royal Engineers in Scarborough grow.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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