An interview with Eric Ryland

My interview today is with Eric Ryland, who In his youth worked in some very dangerous large industries in Wales, nearly being killed on a couple of occasions. After doing his compulsory military service in the British Army, at a time when the Suez Crisis hit the headlines and when Britain was preparing to go to war. He and his fellow conscripts waited anxiously as they boarded a military plane for Cyprus to go to Egypt and the war zone. Luckily, by the time his battalion reached the War area his battalion was quickly withdrawn back to Britain.  

 

After being demobbed from the army he returned to his old job as a steam train fireman to find his job was under threat by the new diesel trains being adopted by British rail, so he changed careers yet again. 

 

Being Welsh, Eric had a good singing voice and got involved with a group of young German musicians as the lead singer in a band, touring all around Britain's working men's clubs in the early 60s.  The band later went on to tour Germany and other European countries. 

 

Eric by this time had a small family and had to make some painful decisions, as he knew in his heart that the music scene was too precarious now that he was a family man. It was around this time that he decided to take his whole family and move thousands of miles across the world to live in South Africa, which at that time still have had apartheid and was a totally different from his experience in his own country.

 

Music track: Drunk in a Smoking Bar Drinking an Imperial Porter Mix by  Lasswell. 

 

 

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) 

 

Here is a link to take to you to the music.

http://dig.ccmixter.org/podcast_music?dig-query=lasswell