The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius

John Morrison | Legacy Life Reflections — On the Golf Course of Life! Family, Golf, and the Art of Asking (& did we mention Golf?!)

• Chris Grimes - Facilitator. Coach. Motivational Comedian

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 1:15:31

Send us Fan Mail

In this special Legacy Life Reflections episode, Chris Grimes welcomes John Morrison — with his family gathered in the room to bear witness. From the terrace of Henbury Golf Club, his "clearing" of 38 years, John traces a full and generous life: a strict, loving mother who called her children "the jewels in her crown of life"; a working life that ran from PE teacher to trusted financial adviser across 42 years; and the firm he built and has since passed to his sons, Dave and Andrew.

He pays a moving tribute to his brother Bobby, who lived with Down's syndrome and, in John's words, was "a totally fulfilled human being." He celebrates a lifetime of music — from Elton John and George Michael to a deep love of Lindisfarne — and reflects, with real emotion, on a family that sticks together in the face of loss. Warm, funny and deeply human.

In this episode:

- 38 years at Henbury Golf Club, captaincy in 2015, and life as a category-one golfer
- His mother, the matriarch who steered him into teaching — and "the jewels in her crown of life"
- A 42-year working life: seven and a half years as a PE teacher, then 35 in financial advice
- Teaching in Watford, a few doors from a young George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley
- An honorary degree, decades on, from the University of Gloucestershire (the old St Paul's College)
- A heartfelt tribute to his brother Bobby
- A life in music: Elton John, George Michael, 10cc and Lindisfarne
- Love and loss in the family, and the daughters-in-law who "make their own luck"
- The sales lesson that became a life motto: "Until you ask the question, the answer is always no"
- How he'd most like to be remembered — the poem "Afterglow"

Chapters:

00:00 – Welcome to The Good Listening To Show
00:55 – A special Legacy Life Reflections, with John's family in the room
01:25 – 38 years at Henbury Golf Club, and a category-one golfer
03:01 – Meet the family: Carol, Dave, Andrew and grandson Rory
11:55 – Shaper one: his mother, "the jewels in her crown of life"
17:00 – From PE teacher to financial adviser — a 42-year working life
17:44 – St Paul's College, and an honorary degree decades later
24:00 – Learning golf aged 12 on the Isle of Cumbrae
26:40 – Teaching in Watford, near a young George Michael
28:26 – Childhood sweethearts: 46 years married to Carol
31:37 – The move back to Bristol and a leap into financial advice
36:40 – Inspiration one: his brother Bobby
41:42 – Inspiration two: a life in music
50:35 – Inspiration three: family, and love in the face of loss
55:00 – The squirrels: the sea, and sport of every kind
58:35 – The unusual fact: saving a life on a banana boat in Crete
63:30 – Alchemy & Gold: at his happiest in Spain
65:40 – The cake: his mother's Victoria sponge
66:10 – The cherry: John Lydgate, and asking for what you want
69:55 – Heydays, and passing the baton to Chris Hughes
71:20 – How he'd like to be remembered: "Afterglow"

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'.  If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening! 

Welcome And The Clearing Rules

Chris Grimes

Welcome to another episode of The Good Listening to Show. Your life and times with me, Chris Grimes, the storytelling show that features the clearing, where all good questions come to get asked, and all good stories come to be told. And where all my guests have two things in common. They're all creative individuals and all with an interesting story to tell. There are some lovely storytelling metaphors, a clearing, a tree, a juicy storytelling exercise called 54321, some alchemy, some gold, a cheeky bit of Shakespeare, and a cake. So it's all to play for. So yes, welcome to the Good Listening To Show, Your Life and Times with me, Chris Grimes. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin.

Golf Legacy With Family In Room

Chris Grimes

Ladies and gentlemen, but most specifically your family, John Morrison, are gathered here today to share your legacy life lessons learned along your way. And welcome to a special, special episode of Legacy Life Reflections. You played golf yesterday. How did that go for you?

SPEAKER_00

The golf played it was very bad. Very bad indeed. You know, you look forward to the club championship once a year. Yes. And uh I will hopefully do much better next year.

Chris Grimes

Do better next year. But this is, I think, with the legacy we're talking about, you've been uh Henbury Golf Club of old or of your. So you can explain the timelines, but how how long have you been associated with Henry uh golf club?

SPEAKER_00

It was 38 years this year.

Chris Grimes

Fantastic. And does that make you a chairman, a captain?

SPEAKER_00

I was captain in 2015. Yep. And uh I've played team matches pretty much from a couple of years after I joined. Ran the first team for six or seven years. Yeah. And we won the Bristol District at one one year, which I was very proud of. And yeah, played uh a reasonable handicap for a good long time, but it is going north now, Chris.

Chris Grimes

As yes, and you're a category one golfer, which is quite an interesting accolade. So uh for those of us that I mean, I do play a bit of golf, so I understand. So what how would you let the world know, and particularly your family, what a category one golfer is?

SPEAKER_00

I've actually slipped just out of category one now, but basically, category one under the old system was a handicap of five and below.

SPEAKER_06

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And the lowest I got was actually four.

SPEAKER_06

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

But I actually stayed a uh category one golfer for about twenty-five years, something else. Yes. But since then I've started to go. My handicap is currently 7.3, so I'm still single figure, so I'm I'm quite happy that.

Chris Grimes

And I'm not sure how they do the maths to get the point three, but yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I won't bore you with those details.

Chris Grimes

That's fine. So just as a bit of a backstory, we've got your lovely family squad, uh, grandchildren notwithstanding, off to the right there. So would you like to explain who's listening, who's watching to the episode as we record?

SPEAKER_00

Right. Well, first of all, we've got uh my lovely wife Carol and my eldest son David or Dave, and my younger son, Andrew. Well, I've got they're you know, they're kids, they're probably middle-aged men now, but they've they've got a lot of experience now. So it's uh yeah, it's lovely to have them here.

Chris Grimes

And then other family members, none of this is a test. People can very well got all the names right. Yeah. And I like what you did abbreviating David to Dave, that's very trailblazing. But you said Andrew, but not Andy, so he's not been abbreviated.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we've always called him Andrew, so a lot of his friends called him Andy, but uh me and his mother just started calling him Andrew.

Chris Grimes

And I can't resist saying not about Andrew, but Andy Cap, which is your Andy Cap at golf, which is 7.3, please. See what we're doing there. Yeah, we're entertaining because it's what's lovely about today is we've got an unusual free song where you've decided to bring your family in. So this is really exciting for me and for Future Leap as well. So you're very welcome to your Legacy Life Reflections recording. Um, with your permission, I'll get on the open road of curating you through the storytelling gateposts of a clearing, which I'll explain in a minute. Um there's gonna be a tree, a lovely, juicy storytelling exercise called 54321. There's gonna be some alchemy, some gold, a couple of random squirrels, a cheeky bit of Shakespeare, a golden baton, and a cake. Hurrah. Carol's going, what is going on? No idea, but all will become clear. It's a bit like Desert Island discs, but in a clearing and with stories rather than music. I know you know that because you're you've been getting in touch quite a lot, which has been really exciting for me, because you I think you've, if I may assume, you've really enjoyed the research.

SPEAKER_00

I have. Uh very much, yeah, very much so. It's it's been you know quite thought-provoking. And um it gets to the stage where you it's a bit like if you like the Rolling Stones, when they make up their set list, it's not a question of what they sing, it's a question also of what they don't sing. Exactly. So it's a bit like what do you leave out? So hopefully I've made the right decisions. But uh it'll you know, I'm I'm very relaxed about the format, so it could end up being nothing like I was actually preparing for.

Chris Grimes

I mean there is a supposition and a premise that should you record this three months next Thursday, the whole idea is it's quite dynamic and you might answer it differently, and that's okay.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely, yeah.

Chris Grimes

Also, I know we need to talk about music because I know you've got a great adoration back in the day, and still to this day, Elton John, George Michael to name but two.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, to name but two, yeah.

Chris Grimes

And I hope you talk about that as we go through.

Henbury Terrace Becomes His Clearing

Chris Grimes

Absolutely. I I don't want to preempt. Yes, energetically then, the most important thing about the whole premise, it all takes place in a clearing or serious, happy place of uniquely your choice, John Morrison. So where would you say what is a clearing for you? Where do you go to get totter-free, inspirational, and able to think?

SPEAKER_00

Well, there's really no nowhere else I could go other than the lovely terrace at Hembry Golf Club. And as we said, I've been there for 38 years, and it was perfect really to have this weekend. It was the club championships where I played so dreadfully. But the actual occasion of it is wonderful. We Carol's a member there as well. The boys used to be. We've no we've got so many friends up there now. Every time you go in, you'll meet someone that you know, you can speak and you go straight into the the relaxed atmosphere. And it's always strange to me that Henry Golf Club is effectively in the I don't know whether you know where it is, Chris, but it's I think it's in Henry's. It is, it is, it is. But it's it's kind of it's in the middle of It's kind of in the middle of Bristol, but you sit down at the terrace and all you can see is trees and green and flowers and beer and um let's say that again.

SPEAKER_04

Beer! Is this a beer I see before me floating towards the verandah of Henry Golf Club?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, it wouldn't be the same without the beer, Chris. It just wouldn't be. But uh it's a place where we're we're so very, very relaxed. And we moved house about thirteen years ago from we were in Hortfield and now we're now at uh we moved to Westbury on Trim. And the golf club is now approximately a twelve-minute walk from our front door to the gates of the golf club. So it's a twelve-minute walk there and typically about thirty-five to get home.

Chris Grimes

And come the day of the Pearley Gates. There's no morbid intention here, but I imagine you'd quite like to walk into Henry Golf Club.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Chris Grimes

Is it gated as well? So you do walk through gates.

SPEAKER_00

It is gated, but um the truth is they don't shut them very often. So um again, without wanting to be morbid, they have um Canford Crematorium is just down the road there, and a lot of the members I've been to a lot of funerals there, and we always call them uh, you know, they're they're they're playing off the back tees.

Chris Grimes

Oh, how lovely. That's lovely golfing parlance. I love that. A bit like as we know, the 19th haltee is where your beer is as well.

SPEAKER_00

And as you can imagine, once the funeral is up, we come up to the golf club, which is a short five-minute drive, huge car park. And if you get a nice day, it's the there's no nicer place to be. Yes. It's absolutely lovely.

Chris Grimes

Wonderful. So that's such a wonderful, appropriate clearing for you to be at Henbury Golf Club. Lovely.

SPEAKER_00

I tried to think of others, but I I just came back to it every time and thought, well, that's it's gotta be a So here we are then, your your wonderful clearing, which sounds totally appropriate.

Chris Grimes

I see what you've done here because uh Carol could have been a golf widow, but I think it was six or seven years ago that you actually um well, hooked her into the the golf club as well, is that correct?

SPEAKER_00

Well, yeah, and it was pretty much um I wouldn't say it was her own volition, but it was more her than than me, because there was a group of the girls that they all kind of got together at the time and Carol joined, and now they're all firm friends, and we've been on holidays and golf trips together. So yeah, it's uh it's lovely. But it is about six or seven years somehow, something like that.

Chris Grimes

And you have a place in Spain as well, and is that close to golf courses as well?

SPEAKER_00

Funnily enough, it is, Chris.

Chris Grimes

I think I knew that. I didn't know that, but I knew that. That's good.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we have uh it's an embarrassment of riches, really. It's it's it's on the Costa Blanca, it's about an hour south of Alicante. And uh I think if we took a 20-mile radius, there would probably be in excess of 30 golf courses that you could you could go to.

Chris Grimes

You've found your happy place, that's clear.

SPEAKER_00

It's not bad.

Chris Grimes

And sport has been a big part of your life. I know you started off as a PE teacher. I did. Back in the day. So just talk us through a little bit of that narrative as well.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, well I'll probably talk more about it later. But uh I started my professional life as a physical education teacher, and then I I didn't stay in teaching all that time, but uh I thoroughly enjoyed my teaching career without without doubt. But the uh this was in the late 70s, uh early eighties, and the the money was actually not very good. And we actually Carol was working as a a supervisor at Boots the Chemist in the middle of Sunny Watford. And yeah, we but we earned pretty much the same money, you know.

SPEAKER_06

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And then when the family came along, it was kind of chucked in too. So it was quite it was much harder to survive. And so You made new choices. I made new choices.

Chris Grimes

And I I'm like the cut of your jib because you said I'll come on to that. So I I'm gonna just let the structure do it for us.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chris Grimes

Okay, so we're in your clearing, which is the not the Pearlie Gates, but the gates of Henry Golf Club. Yes. Fantastic. On the veranda of of there, there is a beer hovering off in the mid-distance, a bit like Beth and the Dagger.

SPEAKER_00

It can become the veranda of doom sometimes.

Chris Grimes

Yes, yesterday, for example.

SPEAKER_00

Well, yes.

Chris Grimes

And don't forget, towards the end, I have a hilarious golf joke.

SPEAKER_00

I should we I sh I shall remind you if you forget.

Chris Grimes

Thank you. Okay, so now I'm gonna arrive with a tree in your clearing. Yes. And I'm gonna shake your tree. This is a bit deliberately waiting for Godot-esque, a bit existential. I'm gonna shake your tree to see which storytelling apples fall out. Couple of props for you. How do you like these apples? And you can hold on if you like. Thank you very much. Please don't chomp it because it's actually plastic. Oh, yes, um, it's a prop apple. Yeah. So uh this is where you've been kind enough, and I'm I'm really grateful because I know you've done the research, and also thank you so much to um Andrew for furnishing me with some other information as well. So, this is where you've had five minutes, or probably a couple of months now, to have thought about four things that have shaped you. Three things that inspire you, two things that never fail to grab your attention, and that's where the squirrels are going to come in. And I will be throwing a squirrel at you at that point. This is borrowed from the film Up where the dog goes, Oh, squirrels. And then the one is a quirky or unusual fict about you. Yeah. John Morrison, we couldn't possibly know about you until you tell us. None of this is a memory test, so back to you now to shake the canopy of the tree as you see fit. So shall we start with following the structure? Yeah. Four things that have shaped you, John Morrison.

Four Shaping Chapters Of One Life

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Well, again, I thought long and hard about this, and there's a lot of sort of family stuff involved. But the first apple is my mother. She shaped me unfailingly all the way through my life, basically. But um, she was very loving, she was strict, she was absolutely the matriarch of our family, without a doubt. My dad was lovely and gentle and quiet, and he had nothing to do with discipline. But so she was actually very good at that. There was many times when she was ready with advice, and uh on more than one occasion, if I transgress, I did feel the thickened of her hand.

Chris Grimes

Ah, so this was back in this is back in the day. Back back of the hand or palm of the hand.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, palm of the hand, yeah, yeah, yeah. That that would be what it was, yeah, absolutely.

Chris Grimes

So corporate punishment was a factory neutrality.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely, but I I that I don't want to give the impression that she used to hit me all the time. She absolutely did not, but I had to do something pretty bad. But there were one or two times that uh that I did do that. And she always referred to us, right which was it's a strange thing to say, really. Well, not strange, it's lovely, really. She referred to my brother, myself, and my sister as the jewels in her crown of life. What do you think of that?

Chris Grimes

I love that. And have you followed that through?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I hope so. Yes. I hope so. We have very strong family units.

Chris Grimes

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Great fun. And uh, you know, it's funny that uh we've grown up and had a great relationship as a family.

Chris Grimes

I do congratulate you for the for her expression. I have never heard it couched in such a way. The jewels and the crown of my life.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, she said it more than once, and um yeah, the boys grew up in a happy household. I hope to think they would agree with that. And uh by the time we got to the stage where they were in their sort of mid to late teens, they were well, they they were still our mates, as well as my children.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And we all go out. I mean, uh my dad. I think I went to the pub with my dad once. And in Bristol, it used to be the Cock of the North. I don't know whether you know that, it's now the Westbury Tavern. And we went out just before I went to college and uh we had a beer. And my dad was I had a pint and he had a half. So we finished with a child and have a little bit of time, and I said, Dad, do you want another beer? He went, You having another one? So drink shaming right there.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Well, of course, it was uh I used to drink proper beer. I'm a lager man now, but it was um it was director's bitter and it was 50p a pint back in those days. So um that was you know quite a good thing. But I have been to the pub with my children on many, many occasions.

Chris Grimes

They're all nautical. We have, we have, we have been to the pub.

SPEAKER_00

It's great, it's absolutely great. And um the older they've got, the wiser they've got. I give them very little advice these days. It's usually it's the other way around now. I look for them to advise, which is great. Absolutely great.

Chris Grimes

I love that.

SPEAKER_00

And um in terms of your mum and dad's names, uh when when Oh yeah, they were Robert and Elizabeth, but everybody called them Bob and Bet. That's what they were.

Chris Grimes

And when did Bob and Bet no longer well, when did they die?

SPEAKER_00

Uh Dad died in uh January 2006. Uh mum died in May 2019. June 2019.

Chris Grimes

And I'm hearing a sort of generational stereotype of them being quite sort of locked off to sort of emotional connection, if I'm right, in your dad.

SPEAKER_00

My dad was. Yes. Yeah, I mean he he was not a very demonstrative person. But uh there was no question as to how he felt about us. But mum was totally the opposite. She was uh a hugger and a kisser and a and a hitter on occasions.

Chris Grimes

I love that. Say that again, it's a lovely reframe to reincorporate. A lover and a hugger, and occasionally a hitter. Love that. A hitter coming back to golf. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00

I reiterate it was not very often. Of course.

Chris Grimes

Really clear about parental boundaries when you knew you'd sort of gone off piste and in terms of shaping me, I can't remember where we were.

SPEAKER_00

So we were in a car somewhere, and she said to me, So what do you want to do for a job when you get older? And I would have been, I don't know, eleven, twelve, something like that. And I was so interested in sport, all kinds of sport. My father had no interest in sport whatsoever. And she said, What is it you want to do when you get older? And I said, Well, I I really don't know. And she said, Well have you ever thought of being a PE teacher? And I thought, ooh, that sounds quite a good idea. And Well the rest is history really, because I decided that that was what I want to do and I pursued it relentlessly and achieved it.

Chris Grimes

So And how many years were you a PE teacher for?

SPEAKER_00

Seven and a half years. Seven and a half years. So I gave it a good old go.

Chris Grimes

And interestingly, I've learnt recently that every seven years we need to be very attuned because apparently that's a life cycle because we're cellularly regenerated. Your teeth are the same, but you're a new person. So that's very profound. But you gave it a life cycle to be a PE teacher. And then how long were you a financial advisor post-that?

SPEAKER_00

I went from teaching into financial advice, and I stayed there till I retired in 2021. So about 35 years. So I worked for 42 years in total.

Chris Grimes

Ooh, notice how that's divisible by seven. Seven fives are thirty-five. That's great. So you've done you've done you're very good at your life cycles, that's great. And I think Carol's joined you on the golf course for one lifetime. Probably feels like a lifetime as well. He's working with his audience.

SPEAKER_04

See what he's doing there.

Chris Grimes

Very good. Okay, so back to the tree to talk about other shapages. So what else would you like to say about things that have shaped you?

SPEAKER_00

So I've tried not to be too chronological, but it's kind of it's difficult not to. So the next thing that shaped me was my dear old college, St. Paul's College, in Cheltenham. And that had a a big effect on my life and a lot of people that I met there. And it was it was actually quite curious how I got in because I was not a big academic, Chris. I wasn't stupid, but I was not a I didn't like studying really. I much preferred kicking the football around or passing a rugby ball or and also basketball, I know for you.

Chris Grimes

That was before you joined the Harlem Global.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. But to give you an idea, we we had we did O levels in those days. And I was not really studying very well, and my father very cleverly said, I tell you what, son, I will give you five pounds for every O level that you get. And I thought, Blimey, that's alright. So I actually did a bit of work, would you believe? And in those days it was all percentages, and the mark, the pass mark was 45%. And when I got my results, they came in and I could not believe it. I got seven O levels. Seven again is there.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So seven again, that's 35 quid, you know, which in 1974 was a lot of money. And I thought, blaming that'll do. But because it was so it was 45, it was a pass mark. I had a 45, a 47, two forty-eight, a forty-nine, a fifty, and a seventy, which was my German. But which uh I can't hardly speak a word of it now, but uh yeah. I want to go to CSE grade one, but he wouldn't count that.

Chris Grimes

That's very familiar because uh I I did my O levels in 1979 and that was exactly what I was doing. I was dual entering doing the GCSE, CSE for the math, particularly.

SPEAKER_00

So then I went into sixth form, but I again I didn't really like studying too much. And we used to go through UCAS, which is the university clearing system to get. And eventually I got two interviews, one at Jordan Hill in um the Bush Specialists at P E Wing Colleges in Jordan Hill in Glasgow, which we went to the interview, and then I had uh the second one I had was St. Paul's College in China. Did not take me. And St. Paul's College offered me a place. And in those days they did uh two qualifications, uh the certificate of education or the bachelor of education degree. And uh I'm paraphrasing now, but they sort of said, Right, well if you come here if you get your A levels you can do the degree course but if you don't get your A levels you can still come and you do the certificate of education.

Chris Grimes

So they liked you and wanted you to come in whatever.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. And I th I said, Well, what was the difference between the course? And they said, nothing really. And I thought Boom. Yes. So I did not study very hard. I did not study very hard at all. Failed my A levels, but still had three wonderful years at St. Paul's College, which was great. Absolutely great.

Chris Grimes

And your episode thumbnail is gonna have you in a shirt that you're very proud of. Correct. And I'm sorry it's disappeared. That was not meant to be.

SPEAKER_00

But interestingly, just last year it came to light that a good friend of mine and uh somebody that I knew from college, who was a couple of years above me, had gone through a a long process because it transpired that the certificate course and the beard course were exactly the same, but people with a beard and a CERTED, they earned different money. So we actually got less money, which well I thought about it was probably quite fair. But uh anyway, the long and the short of it was St. Paul's College is no longer what it is, it's now the University of Gloucestershire. And to cut a long story short, I was I had conferred upon me last year an honorary Bachelor of Education degree. So I am now, I think I can legitimately say that I am a university graduate.

Chris Grimes

Very good. What goes around comes around and congratulations. It's probably stretching things a bit, but And what was the reason of them getting back in touch with you to sort of bestow that upon you?

SPEAKER_00

Is it just the pillar of the community ness of it was it was the recognition of the fact that we'd we'd all done the same course. Yes. And so therefore we can we were conferred with an honorary degree. It was So it's now proudly on my wall. Unfortunately, I had a bit of a health scale last year, so unfortunately I couldn't go to the actual ceremony. But they s they sent all the videos and what have you, and it was uh yeah, it was very, very nostalgic because you know, the people that you met, I met my best friend who is still there, his four daughters and our two grew up together. And it was a wonderful three years. It really was a wonderful three years.

Chris Grimes

There's that lovely idea of what's meant for you won't pass you by. So that was obviously where you were meant to be.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it was great. And uh I mean they were healthy in days. I mean, they're since then I've only the last couple of years become part of they call them the LF Old Chelts. LF stands for Lunatic Fringe. Old Chelts Golf Society. So I've played there.

Chris Grimes

And some of them Is that where you first picked up a golf club?

SPEAKER_00

Oh no, no, no. No, no, no.

Chris Grimes

Oh gosh, no, I was I think you were born one between your teeth, aren't we?

SPEAKER_00

Again, my mother's influence. We used to go on holiday regularly to uh a little island in the middle of the Firth of Clade. Um called Well, it's the Isle of Cumbrae, but the town on there is Millport. And you get the ferry from Largs, where Sam Torrence used to be a member, if you know who Sam Torrence is. That's where I learned to play golf, because she organised me some some lessons. And as soon as I hit a ball, I was hooked, and I was twelve, twenty years old.

Chris Grimes

And I know the Scottish holiday through line has continued because Andrew did mention that too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a soundtrack to the holidays pertaining to your love of music as well.

SPEAKER_00

Indeed. Well, Dave still goes there. I mean, he went there a couple of three weeks ago with his daughter, Millie and Son Rory, and long wife Claire. And uh being well, we'll have the flat next to them next year, and we'll have a week in uh in in Millport as well.

Chris Grimes

Very good. So we're still doing the shape ages. So um if there's any overlap when we get onto influencing, that's completely fine too. But anything else you'd like to say about what's something that shaped you?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, well, I'm at number three now, aren't you?

Chris Grimes

Cash in number three, please.

SPEAKER_00

What then shaped me after finishing college, we then had to get a job.

Chris Grimes

And that Heaven for Fennes.

SPEAKER_00

That was I'll tell you, Chris, that was not an easy exercise. It was basically the last term in 1979. My years were 76-79. And um the only way you could get a job was to buy the Times Educational Supplement every time it came out, go through the jobs and apply for them. And of course, this was in the days when there were no word processors or anything like that. So I had to handwrite all my applications. And I think I applied for about 50 jobs before I even got an interview. And many of the re mainly the reason for that, all the P teachers up and down the world, because it wasn't just St. Paul's, we were a specialist wing college. Yeah. But you had Loveborough, Alsager, Plymouth, all competing for the same. But of course, a lot of the guys had people who had represented their country under 19s, or in fact, one of the guys at college was a guy called um God, I can't remember his name. No, he was he was uh I'll it'll come back to me. He was on a Lions tour. And I think he he went on a lions tour whilst he was still at college. So those those guys all got snapped up, as you can probably imagine. So so I was a little bit down the pecking order, if you like.

Chris Grimes

And the country representation was in the sport of rugby, is that his was.

SPEAKER_00

His was, yeah. But there were there were international footballers, cricketers, you know. I was at um uh college with Chris Broad, who was uh he turned on to a uh a first-class cricketer of some renowned father of Stuart Broad, who is well, he's only just retired now, but he had a fantastically successful career. So all these guys were always going to get jobs first before before of us. Well, unless you do what Chris didn't be went on to become a professional cricketer for twenty years. So I eventually as soon as I got one interview, they they sort of came a bit thick and fast after that.

Chris Grimes

So it's a bit of a snowball effect.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, it was, yeah.

Chris Grimes

So uh which is often a mindset shift, isn't it, of oh, I can do this, and then you get through doorways.

SPEAKER_00

So I must have had again, I don't know, five or ten interviews, I suppose, something like that. And some were sort of you couldn't really be choosy, Chris. You know, you had to go for where you where you could get an interview. So I'd go to Essex, I went to Somerset, I went to Birmingham, I went to North Hertfordshire, all over the place to try and get a job.

Chris Grimes

And were you growing up in Bristol all this time? So where was where was home for you? Yes, I was in still in Bristol. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But all my applications were at college.

Chris Grimes

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Because what it was interesting. Mum and dad actually I went there in 1976, and then 1977 they decided to move up to Edinburgh. So I was on with Jack for two two years. So it was it was absolutely fine though.

Chris Grimes

Oh, that gave you the Scottish connection, that's correct. Which is why you now love it. Yes, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_00

And um uh well, mum and dad are both Scottish, but uh or we're both Scottish, so yeah, it was it's a low lovely time. But um I I eventually started interviews coming, and then I one day went to a place called Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, which is literally just outside Sunny Watford, and uh I got the job and worked there for I think it was three and a half years, then moved to another secondary school in Watford called Bushy Hall. And one interesting fact is that just down the road there's a school called Bushy Meads, and that's where when I started teaching, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were in the fourth year at Bushy Meads just down the road. Wow. So there's a you learnt that later, presumably with hindsight when they got it. No, I knew I knew they were there, but I I didn't know who they were particularly. But uh but they yes, and some of the girls in my form, because then you know they were tiny when they started, and three or four years later, wham were breaking onto the onto the scene. And a couple of them said, Oh look, I used to you know Andrew Ridgley and all this kind of stuff.

Chris Grimes

So yeah, it was uh And we must, must, must make sure we talk about music, obviously coming out too.

SPEAKER_00

So anyway, I uh I then taught at uh Bushy Hall for four years, which was my seven and a half years in teaching.

Chris Grimes

And had you met Carol by this time? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we were childhood sweethearts, yeah. We met at school. So we have actually we've been married for 46 years this year, would you believe? And we were together five years before that. So uh we've got time served between us.

Chris Grimes

Yes, and I love the fact that it doesn't divide by seven because that's coming, which gives a good future to everything as well.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, indeed. So, and then as I mentioned earlier, we uh we had a situation then when we'd had Dave. So Dave was actually born in Watford, but you won't remember it because we uh we moved away too soon. But um And what's the age difference between Andrew and David? Twenty-one months, which is probably another reason why they're such good mates as they are now, which I love as well. But it was I actually went on a stag day with a friend of mine who I was best man for, and we got back uh I don't know, three o'clock. We were in Brighton, got back at three o'clock in the morning in a terrible state. And Carol woke up in the morning to find my clothes strewn all over the place. I was lying on the um sofa. She said, You better go up to bed. So I did. And uh my mother rang and said, I need to speak to John. And Carol said, Well, he's actually in bed. She said, Well, it's get him up, it's very important. And Carol said, But he's not in too good a state right now. And uh she said, Well, it's very important. I said, Well, I'll tell you what, I'll get him to give you a ring when he wakes up. About two hours later I did, and it turned out there was a job opportunity for me back in Bristol, which was where we were we were desperate to get back to Bristol. We like Watford, we loved the people there, but it was not home, Chris.

Chris Grimes

And you've been kind to Watford twice, you've called it Sonny Watford twice.

SPEAKER_00

I I still love going back to Watford now. I've still got friends there, some very good friends who still play golf, are still in touch with the guy I was best man for, although there's a big gap in between. And it literally happened very quickly.

Chris Grimes

So I love how your mum perpetually has had your back. She gave you the nudge of, have you thought of PE teaching? And then she gave you the nudge of I've got a job for you. So she was a she should have a career counsellor extraordinaire.

SPEAKER_00

Well, you can see how she shaped me. Yes, absolutely. And um yeah, I thought it was a that that's a great idea. So I literally I think it was I was approached something like the June or something. I c I can't quite remember. Yeah. And then Carol and I went down to came across to Bristol to find a house, which we did. We had a my half term to do it, so found a house. It all worked out, I resigned, and then our uh completion was delayed, so I actually ended up having to actually ended up doing another term, so but on on on supply. Yes. And then we it all completed, it all worked, and we came down.

Chris Grimes

There's a through line also of what's meant for you won't pass you by. So these are all windows of opportunity, doorways, sliding door moments.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, everything works out. You know, the stars were aligned. Yeah. So it just it worked out really well.

Chris Grimes

That could be the four shapages now, or is there a number four to come? There is one more. Let's have shapage number four, please.

SPEAKER_00

Moving back to Bristol, which was in January 1987. And we know how I got there now, but um, yes, I I changed jobs completely. I went from an albeit poorly paid profession, but it was guaranteed, into the world of it was an employee contract, but it was commission only.

Chris Grimes

Yeah. And so, you know, you had to This is financial advice stuff now, yes.

SPEAKER_00

It was pre-Fanancial Services Act. Yeah. But it changed very quickly, again, within about six months of my joining.

Chris Grimes

And this is your mother finding this job.

SPEAKER_00

She was approached by somebody else who used to work. Yes. There was an old neighbour who worked in a he actually worked in a uh ran his own estate agency. Right. So he had a lot of clients because he used to write endowment policies. And I was I was set loose on his client bank originally. Yeah. But of course I was able to, you know, I worked away from him as quickly as possible because I would give it away 50%. So but it it worked very well. But the first time when I started, it was very tough. I wasn't used to it's not quite your don't earn your don't eat, but it wasn't but you're taking quite a bold career pivot at this point. Oh, I think so, yeah. It was quite a jump.

Chris Grimes

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Uh it was a lot of hard work, and but what really stood me in good stead, which I only realized afterwards, was that the communication skills that you have as a teacher really did transcend to the realms of financial advice.

Chris Grimes

And I love the fact you went from P E to F A using two pairs of acronyms. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00

So at the beginning it was just I won't say it was awful, but it was I used to qualify my success in how many appointments I used to be able to get. Yeah. And there was a lot of cold calling, which was I didn't like that very much. But by having people to run at, I literally used to knock doors and um make appointments for these people.

Chris Grimes

And in terms of your legacy, I know that eventually you formed your own company, and that's what you've now wonderfully post-um retiring have passed on to Andrew as well.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and Daisy then uh uh as well. I was very glad about that. I suppose the only way to think about it is that in that situation you have to get used to rejection because you get a lot of it.

SPEAKER_06

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And you know, a lot of people did fall by the wayside, and I just thought I've always said from that point of view, as far as I was concerned, the fire behind was a lot hotter than the fire in front. Nicely put.

Chris Grimes

So you've got a tenacity and a push forward.

SPEAKER_00

Well, yeah, I within the space of six months of moving to Bristol, yeah, we had a new house, a new job, and a new baby.

Chris Grimes

So you have to And that's going quite fast because the stereotype to do with navigating change is normally about 18 months minimum to bring it about.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And then the entire Field Force for Sun Life of Canada was dispensed with in the early 2000s. Yeah. Um maybe even in 2001. The entire Field Force was made redundant overnight because as a distribution channel, it was it was too expensive. I got headhunted straight away, as a lot of people did, became an IFA, worked for a company for a year, and then six of us that were there broke away and founded our own company where I worked until I retired. And the rest. And the rest is yeah, they can't.

Chris Grimes

The rest is history is a different podcast. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So and I would say that the last fifteen years of my professional life were a delight, an absolute delight. Because it wasn't wasn't really working anymore. I'd known these people now for, in some cases, 25 years, 30 years.

Chris Grimes

So there's a sense of belonging, which is a sort of collegiateness, which then pertains to the golf club and the Henry environment as well.

SPEAKER_00

And by the time you get to that situation, you don't need to worry about where the business is going to come from because it's it's all completely organic. Yes. So you get referred to the children, and then sometimes the children of children, if you're if you're there long enough. Yes. And then you get referred out of the blue, which happened more and more and more.

Chris Grimes

So momentum built up, the trusted advisor status was prevalent, and then that's as you said.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, we had to keep working because uh, you know, with the Financial Services Act did come in, then became the Financial Conduct Authority. Yeah. So Andrew's got to do it now and Dave, but I don't. It's um we have to take something like ten exams in the year, and there are your qualifications. Eventually the FCA will say, right, well, you've got to do you've had your your FPC, one your financial planning certificate one, two, three. Now you need to do your diploma, level four, and I'm pretty sure it'll carry on going. But I don't have to do that anymore.

Chris Grimes

You can just say good luck with that and take a golf suite. For very good. We're now on to the three things that inspire

Three Inspirations From Bobby Music Family

Chris Grimes

you. So if there's any overlap, that's completely um fine with me. So John Morrison, three things that inspire you now.

SPEAKER_00

My brother was a lovely boy.

Chris Grimes

He was This is Bobby, isn't it? Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Sometimes, very rarely he was a bit of a he was um he was great. I mean he was just people probably need to know he was Down syndrome. Which is uh they used to call him Medicare Handicap back in the day. But he was saying a gentleman, very loving. You know, Down syndrome are very loving people. And he was in some ways more fortunate than others because his level of disability was quite a step up from other people that we met. I was associated with mental handicap before well most of my life till he died, really. But he achieved independence because when we were in Edinburgh there was a group called the Action Group. And it was a charity, it was set up and it was to basically set up a like a halfway house for people with that sort of disability to basically join the community. So there was a like a halfway house, and then he ended up in a flat on his own in Edinburgh, lovely flat about four roads down from Princess Street. Wow. If you know where that is. I do. Not the castle side, yeah. The other side, down towards the south. The Waverley Station, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that that yeah, yeah. So if you if you're in a Waverly station and went up Princess Street that way, and you look to your left, about four roads down, that's where he was. Yeah. He was a totally fulfilled human being. He was brilliant, and he used to he loved the cinema, and he used to he had he paid for his tickets on direct debit, would you believe? And would go on the bus to the uh to the cinema, and mum and dad moved away from Edinburgh and came back down to to the West Country. Bobby originally he was able to uh be dropped at the airport and get down on his own, which was fantastic. So he used to come down a lot. We'd miss him obviously when he when he arrived. And one time he came in and uh I said uh Oh hi Bob, have you seen good films recently? And he'd always go, Yes. And I'd say, Oh right. I said, I said, there's one at the cinema that I really want to see. I said it's called a perfect storm. Have you seen it? He went, Yes. And I said, because it's got George Clooney in it, he's my favourite actor at the moment. He went, yeah. He dies in the end. No spoilers except from Bobby. I said, Oh, thanks, Bob. Right? Yeah, yeah. So that's the kind of brilliant pragmatism, yeah. But nothing totally no not a bad bone in his body. He lived a great life.

Chris Grimes

How long ago did he die? Because I know how raw it was for you.

SPEAKER_00

2000 and I can't remember whether he died before or after Minnie was born. I c I can't remember, but um he would have been 62, so I'll tell you what, he was born in 1956, so we're uh kind of worked that one out. But um it's just not unusual. But it anything that befalls people who don't have downs affects downs as well, but it just happens sooner. So Bobby got dementia. And uh yeah, he was 62.

Chris Grimes

So And he's a wonderful inspiration for you. Anything else you want to tell us about Bobby?

SPEAKER_00

It was a strange thing. He came down one year and he came off the plane in a wheelchair. And me and my mum had picked him up and said, What's wrong with it? He said, Oh, he says, I just hurt my foot, you know. And it became very obvious that he could not walk properly. So she took him to the hospital and he had an x-ray, his ankle was broken and nobody knew. So he was meant to s stay with us for two weeks, I think. Ended up say for two months, nearly killed my mother. But um, you know, but I the point is no complaints, no nothing. Just got on with it.

Chris Grimes

That's the sort of guy I was it's a lovely tribute to Bobby.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

Chris Grimes

And now a second inspiration.

SPEAKER_00

Right, well, it has to be music. I've loved music all my life. Yeah, absolutely. The thing I love about music is it makes me think of the times, and obviously at college in the 70s, there is a a lot of music from those years, 70s, then goes into the 80s and some of the 90s. That that's my era, Chris. I love those times.

Chris Grimes

Your own time vortexes then. Yeah, yeah. Yes. With the exception of punk rock. Was that a glitch in your mainframe?

SPEAKER_00

I just I just I apologize to the people who love punk rock, but I couldn't stand it. Never could, and still can't. But there would there was only one there that the one track that came out, and he's not really a punk rocker, but it was Elvis Costello who sang I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea. And if you remember that, I thought that was a great song. All other punk rock, you can keep it, because I'm absolutely not interested. But I was a massive still am, a massive Elton John fan. And the first time I saw him was at the Hammersmith Apollo. I think it's it's called something different now, but it'll always be the Hammersmith Apollo to me. And um he'd had it, it was a December concert. We went with some couple of colleagues and from work, me and Carol and uh Roger Bourwinner, an old mate of mine, a probationary teacher like myself, and uh he'd had it made up to look like a big Christmas present. I don't know, it must have cost him a fortune. But we went in there, he played for two and a half hours, and the one thing that I remember more than anything else was him singing Benny and the Jets. You know, I remember, just to go back, my 35 quid from my own levels, first thing I did was buy Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Chris Grimes

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

And he sang Benny and the Jets with all of his old band, you know, all the old guys Nigel Olsen, Ray Cooper, Dean Murray, David Johnson. It's sad I know them all, isn't it? But uh he played Benny and the Jets for 11 minutes. Wow. And it went it went from jazz to rock to reggae at one point. It was a performance I'm letting you get. So we ended up seeing him four seeing him four times, I think, now altogether. Because I think a couple of years later he was he was headlining at the Summer of 84 concert.

Chris Grimes

I saw that one. Did you?

SPEAKER_00

I think it was Wembley were talking to stays 78,000 people there that day.

Chris Grimes

Me and you were there.

SPEAKER_00

Well well, what a surprise. What a surprise.

Chris Grimes

Small world wouldn't want to hoover it that day.

SPEAKER_00

Well, the funniest thing was that if I don't know whether you were there then, but the first band that actually managed to get anybody on their feet was Wang Chung and Dance Whole Days, which was a it was a great the one that I love, I've always loved, because it's mine and Carol's always I love my Tennessee C. You know, if anybody listens to the lyrics, you'll I'm not in love, so don't forget it. It's just a silly phase I'm going through. And if I call you, don't make a fuss. Don't tell them all about the two of us. Now it's singing totally the opposite because I've caught it enough and uh it's our song. So sometimes if we're having a beer at home and it comes on, we'll get up another time. So we don't do it all the time. But so if I was on a disc, that would be the one that I would say away.

Chris Grimes

And because of your love of George Michael as well, I just wanted to obviously I know the track of Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me that they did together. Yeah. I know they're too well collided.

SPEAKER_00

I love that track. I absolutely love that track.

Chris Grimes

Because when he says, Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Elton Charlie, there we go.

SPEAKER_00

It's absolutely great. George Michael is because he was so good at uh in both existences, really. It's kinda hard to pick one really, but um certainly him singing that would be with Elton John, it is a great one. But if I was gonna pick one of his, it would well the wham track would always be Last Christmas, because that's just a fabulous song. Everybody loves hearing that song. But uh of him and the big faith album where he spawned some like six number ones in America. One more try of that is a great song. Great song.

Chris Grimes

Lovely. Anything else you want to say about music?

SPEAKER_00

No, I think that's about it. The only other thing I'd say is that uh the other group that I've still got a massive affinity to is the the folk rock group of Lindesfahren. And we still go and see them, much to my wife's chagrin, every year. They have a Christmas concert at the Newcastle City Hall, and we fly up and we have a great weekend. They always get people up dancing. It's a sellout, 2000 every year, and I love it. And whenever when they sing Meet Me on the Corner, everybody goes bonkers.

Chris Grimes

Meet me on the corner, everybody goes bonkers. I think that's fantastic. It's like I whack it on a good backman turn it over, right, mate. That's great, we're in.

SPEAKER_01

Wonderful, wonderful montage of music. Another inspiration.

SPEAKER_00

The family, basically my family. They're a great, great family. And uh in the face of adversity, stick together brilliantly. Absolutely brilliantly. And that is inspirational to me. So I shall try for my voice not to break too much as we go through this, but Andrew experienced loss of a partner, Abby, in 2015, which as you can imagine was traumatic for him, terrible for him, and pretty bad for the family. But he was stoic in his treatment of that bleak time. And his brother day was superb, and he was with Claire, not quite married then, but and I think this might not be quite accurate, but as they say, never let the truth get in the way of a good story. But um Abby and Andrew moved in with Dave and Claire for a while. And she was diagnosed in the June, passed in the December. And I always remember, as you're saying at Dave's wedding, because obviously they were best men for one another. He said at the time there it wasn't just a place to live, it was a home. And the support that he got from Dave. Claire was superb. Absolutely superb. And how can you not be inspired by that? Absolutely brilliant. And after I died, she'd said, and Andrew told us this, she said to him, Now look, when I'm gone, I'll want you out dating again. And he said, Well, you know, she said, No, no, no, don't muck about. I want you dating. So he did as he was told, and within a fairly short period of time, he met Sarah, who is lovely, and went on to become his wife and the mother of his children, and she has always been never judgmental, totally accepting, loving mom, and a lovely, lovely person. So we never had daughters, but now we've got two beautiful daughters-in-law, Claire and Sarah. So, again, inspirational. Love it, love it all. And I thought I'd like to I mean, they both run their families so beautifully that I just think to myself, well, yeah. Do I think we're lucky? I think they make their own luck, so it's great. It's absolutely great. So that inspires me. Always does when I think about it. Life moves on, you have to move on, but it doesn't mean you have to forget. So, yeah, my family inspired me. And Carol was right there as well, because it happened quite suddenly. Well, as in the news came, I had to take my mum up to Scotland for a funeral, as it happens, on the day Abby passed. Carol was great. She looked after him when he got back from London, and her loyalty to the family. Superb.

Chris Grimes

If I may say, what a beautiful tribute to your family. That was very, very eloquent and a privilege to listen to.

Sea And Sport Plus Banana Boat Hero

Chris Grimes

I believe we're onto the squirrels now. I think we might be. Which is where we now go, oh, squirrels! So I'm gonna throw a squirrel at you. So here's a squirrel. Um there's a second squirrel that's back up if it's the first one. So squirrels is borrowed from the film up. See what we're doing now, we're checking the boot now as well. So the squirrels is what are your two monsters of distraction? What two things in your life, uh, John Morrison, never fail to grab your attention, irrespective of anything else that's going on in your hectic and eclectic and wonderful life?

SPEAKER_00

Well, the first one is quite strange, actually, but it's the sea. I love looking at the sea. It's pretty much anywhere in the world, really. I love seeing that aquamarine, blue, translucent, different shades. It's so wonderful, and it never ceases to distract me. So that if I'm I can be talking to Carl, I'll get you. Look at that sea.

SPEAKER_02

That is just lovely, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00

And I think Carol's probably heard it about ten times, and she goes. Yeah, yeah, it's the sea, yeah. But I I absolutely love it. And obviously, where we are now, our place in Spain, we go for a lot of walks, and to be able to sort of look down is wonderful. And mum and dad used to have a holiday flat on the Isle of Millport, lovely big bay window, looking out over to the Whee Cumbrae and the Isle of Aron in the back.

SPEAKER_07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And it was a different view every day, Chris. It was just it was amazing. And it would be dark. It wouldn't be light, it would be angry, it would be sublime. And on more than one occasion you can see it really dark, and then the clouds part, you get this ray of sunshine goes down onto the sea before it locks up again. I love the sea. Uh I hate sailing, but I love the sea. Love what love love looking at it.

SPEAKER_06

Great squirrel. The squirrel is the sea. Wonderful. And then second squirrel.

SPEAKER_00

Second squirrel, pretty much sport of any kind. It just shows that the the pea teacher in me will not lay down and die. And I can be hearing something on the radio, or again, having a quick conversation with Carol, uh saying, oh, blind me. Declan Rice has just scored. And she'll go, oh yeah. Who's who's Declan Rice? Or oh Rory's coming down this well, actually, that's probably not that was the fairway we're gonna get because Carol's actually quite interested in watching a bit of golf nowadays, but um it used to be not at all. So football, she's not interested. Rugby a little bit more because both boys used to play rugby. We used to watch them for Andrew still playing. So and then uh Dave's still playing basketball, which was again my big sort of running around sport for the last well, I haven't played for probably about 15 years now, but you reached referee prowess with it. I did, yeah, yeah, yeah. I enjoyed refereeing. I did my grade two badge in Hertfordshire, which was quite a thing then because it was um we used to referee some people, like if you went at a well in Garden City or somewhere like that, a lot of the Essex leagues would come over and play, and you'd had some players of renown playing. So I used to really enjoy it. So whenever I came back to Bristol, I had sort of designs on refereeing at National League level, but never happened because with all the work and then the family and then the bigger family. That's just how blowout stickers I am. But I still I played for the next 35 years and loved it.

Chris Grimes

So you very much slammed that in your basket. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Wonderful. Now we're on to the one in the 54321, which is a quirky or unusual fact about you, John Morrison. We couldn't possibly know about you until you tell us.

SPEAKER_00

No one would ever guess this one, but it's um it involves a banana boat in Crete. You know those ones that they used to pull around in a I do behind you, yeah. Yeah, that's right. So I was I don't think Cara was on it, but I can't remember she'll correct me later, I'm sure if I'm wrong, but um I'm not sure whether she was on it. But it was actually on a sales leaders' conference at Salife of Canada. We went out on this banana, I don't know what it's called, but banana boat shall we call it. The big inflatable.

Chris Grimes

I've been scraped along the bay on a couple I know exactly what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_00

We were on our on our lifeboats, uh life jackets on. And he went round a bit too fast.

Chris Grimes

And I think they did that all.

SPEAKER_00

And we all flew off, and I was, you know, you come up and go. And I saw my friend, and he worked in a different barge, and his name was Neil, Neil Pratt, and uh a fortunate name perhaps, but um he was lying face down in the water, and I thought he's kidding and he wasn't moving. So I grabbed him and flipped him over. Turns out he'd come off, him and his wife had clashed heads, and it knocked him out, and he was he was lying face down. So I pulled him over, the guy jumped off the boat, pulled him on, and uh he coughed and spluttered and all the rest of it. And ever since then he told me, I saved my life. You saved my life.

Chris Grimes

I think you did. Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So no one would ever know that.

Chris Grimes

Yes. Extraordinary.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, great fact. Quite a strange thing, but uh I I think he was probably being a little bit sort of embellishing the truth a little bit.

Chris Grimes

But well, it doesn't sound like that. If he's face down, there's any yes, there's any sink rather than swim in that regard. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Well, go you. So a lay superhero.

SPEAKER_01

Not all superheroes wear capes, am I right? Correct.

Retirement Alchemy In Spain And Bristol

SPEAKER_01

Hurrah!

Chris Grimes

Now we stay in the clearing, which is at the Henry Golf Club in the gated enclosure of happiness. And now, next, we're going to talk about alchemy and gold. So when you're at purpose and in flow, this is your purpose imperative, John. What are you absolutely happiest doing in what you're here to reveal to the world?

SPEAKER_00

Well, it's changed a lot since I um since I retired, obviously. And probably if we put Henry Goldclub aside, because we know that's my happy clearing, but one of my happiest most at this particular moment in time. Uh I mean we've just come back from uh a month in Spain, and I am as happy there, but I'm not happier anywhere than when we are in Spain, and the weather's lovely. It is a home from home now, which is lovely. And we have a great circle of friends there now, who've all got houses near us. All expats, most of them. And uh what part of Spain is it? It's on the Costa Blanca, so it's about uh an hour south of Alicante. And we go out for meals, we go to the beach. I'm so relaxed and chilled. It's where I listen to uh Desert Island discs almost exclusively. And it was where I listened, I think I mentioned you before, the the podcast with your dear dad, which was lovely. And um I just feel so relaxed there, so relaxed.

Chris Grimes

When I spoke to you on the phone about a a few days ago, you just sounded incre completely zen, was what I described. You was like well chill, as they would say.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, we're back, we're back. So it's not always the same, yeah. Um because we went over for New Year and we went over for uh at the end of February, and the weather was not not very nice at all. So it's a different place then.

SPEAKER_06

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

But right here, right now, yeah, that last month was wonderful. Doesn't get any better.

Chris Grimes

So that's the alchemy and gold. Love that. And now I'm gonna award you with the cake. So something else to throw at you. It's uh so do you like cake, first of all?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I like cake.

Chris Grimes

So what would be the cake of choice, please?

Victoria Sponge Quotes And Bold Questions

Chris Grimes

My cake.

SPEAKER_00

My mother used to be use was a proper baker. She used to bake pretty much every day with three children to bring it up. Yep. And the cake that she always cooked that I or baked, I should say, it was a victorious bunch.

SPEAKER_07

Love that.

SPEAKER_00

Dusted with um icing sugar. Absolutely wonderful.

Chris Grimes

So the final sort of suffused with storytelling metaphor, you're gonna put a cherry on the cake now, which is your Victoria's sponge. So if you forgive me shoving a cherry on your cake, this is now a favourite inspirational quote that's always given you sucker and pulled you towards your future.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. Well um I'm I'm going to make sure I get this right. Yes. Interestingly, when I first became a proportionary teacher, I've always been sort of what I think a sort of bit of a hell fellow well knit kind of guy.

Chris Grimes

And there was That's a good quote of itself from Midsummer Night's Dream, I think it is.

SPEAKER_00

And I kind of um I suppose I always liked to think that everybody liked me. And life isn't like that. I wouldn't say I had horrible experiences, but and I can't even remember who it was, but I didn't get on well with somebody, and I can't remember why. But it takes me back to that quote of the 15th century poet and monk John Lydgate. And you'll have heard this before. You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all the time. And it's absolutely true.

Chris Grimes

And I didn't know it was attributed to the 15th century.

SPEAKER_00

Well, because a lot of people attribute it to Abraham Lincoln, which it turns out is not true. It was the poet monk, John Lindgate. So in the 1400s. So and it just to my mind it absolutely does sort of illustrate the principle that not everybody's gonna like it, but that's okay.

Chris Grimes

And I love reincorporating deliberately this point. So just read the quote, stand alone.

SPEAKER_00

You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all the time.

Chris Grimes

What notes help or advice with the gift of hindsight, and you can decide how old you are when you go back holographically in time, wrap your own arms around your own shoulders. What advice would you give to a younger version of yourself?

SPEAKER_00

I was effectively at Sun Light of Canada, I was as a salesperson. And right at the beginning, once I started making appointments, that was the first hurdle. And then you get into the sales environment. And my rate of closure was not particularly good, but that's not unusual really for someone who's in their early stages. And so I I spoke to my um line manager and I told him what the problem is. So and he said, Well, do you go on with well with the people that you consult with? Yes, I think so. And he said, Well, do you actually ask for the business? And I said, What do you mean? He said, Well, if you've got no further to go and you don't know whether you're going to get the business, just say, Well, do you like I'm paraphrasing that but do you like me? Yeah. Well, I like you too. I'd like to work with you now and going forward. I'd like to have your business. Will you give me your business? And it worked. Not all the time, but if you're sort of at a dead end and you think, well, unless I ask here, this is not before you get into the sort of steps of actually closing and what what have you. Um so I reported back to my line manager and told him what happened. And he said, Well, there you go. And I said, What do you mean there you go? And I love this principle because I apply it to not just uh in lots of things, and it is until you ask the question, the answer is always no.

SPEAKER_06

Love that.

SPEAKER_00

And I have absolutely applied that in lots of areas, whatever it may be.

Chris Grimes

Because it's true, isn't it? So you'd go back in time, and at that point in your early part of your career, yeah, you would state to yourself Yeah. And just say the words again?

SPEAKER_00

Until you ask the question, the answer is always no. You can apply it to all sorts of things. But uh to me it's it's it's made a it's made a big difference, really, I think.

Chris Grimes

I'm just going to talk about halcyon days briefly. You've given us lots of pockets of when that is, but when would you say John Morrison has been what periods of your life are Halcyon days? Bish bash bosch.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, three years at St. Paul's College, fantastic. When the kids were young and we were in Bristol, which was uh great when the kids were were were growing up, and now sharing the family and the grandkids. Those are my three bits.

Chris Grimes

The rule of three there, the life rule of three, the best things happen in threes. And now, we're ramping up now shortly to talk about Shakespeare, but you don't have to say yes to this bit or if there's an idea, but this is the pass the golden button moment,

Afterglow Poem And Legacy Farewell

Chris Grimes

please. They don't like it up a Mr. Manning. So I'll pass that to you. Is there anyone in your world that you think or know would really enjoy being given a damn good listening to in this way?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, and it's my friend, colleague, and ex-co-director, Chris Hughes.

Chris Grimes

Lovely. So your mission, should you choose to accept it, is just to furnish me as your beginning to do.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and uh I think I think it would be right up his street. Chris is a good talker, so I would like him to pick up the pattern, is what I'd like him to do.

Chris Grimes

And now, inspired by Shakespeare, all the worlds are stealed, and all the men and women merely players, we're going to borrow from the seven ages of man, and I'd like to pass that across to you. And I'd like you now, uh, when all is said and done, John Morrison, how would you most like to be remembered?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I mean it's it's quite interesting because um I did think long and hard about this, but for me, as far as I'm concerned, I've had a good life. And if I was to shuffle off tomorrow, it would not worry me one bit. And the kids, I'd like them to remember me as a as a mate as well as their dad. But um, I was thinking, how shall I encompass all this? Because one of the guys from the Lunatic Fringe Golf Society, old Charles, passed away last month. I didn't know him. Anyway, at his funeral, they read out the Robbie Burns, Here Lies an Honest Man. And I read that, I thought, nah, that's not me. You know, I didn't want to do that. So whilst I was looking at it, it was another link that went to Cornwall Funeral Poems or something. And this is the one, this is how I would like to be remembered. And it's called Afterglow, and it's written by Helen Lowry Marshall. And it says, I'd like the memory of me to be a happy one. I'd like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done. I'd like to even echo whispering softly down the ways of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days. I'd like the tears of those who grieve to dry before the sun of happy memories that I leave when life is done. That's me. So that's the way I'd like to be remembered.

Chris Grimes

John Morrison, as this has been your moment to shine in the good listening to show, stories of distinction and genius, legacy, life reflections, is there anything else you'd finally like to say?

SPEAKER_00

I don't think so, Chris. I've I've had a blast, thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. And I shall be pushing Chris Hughes to come and have a go, because I think he'd love it. But no, I've thank you as well. It's been a it's been a lovely however long it is, I've completely lost track of time, so I've no idea where we are.

Chris Grimes

And thank you for the sincere privilege of bearing witness, if you like, to how you've interpreted the structure. And I'm I'm very grateful to how deeply and profoundly you've considered the structure. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

It'll be interesting to go to go through it, you know, on my own for a while and see. And then listen to it after when it comes and see what I've missed out and what I put in that. I didn't expect to. Yes. But it's been a wonderful experience, Chris. I've really enjoyed it.

Chris Grimes

And thank you for bringing your wonderful family to bear witness to. It's been a a really lovely new no no other family have decided to do this, yes, and and I thank you for that for that instinct. And also thank you, um Andrew, my paddle partner, for entrusting me with this because it is a privilege and it's something I know that I bear it in deep trust. And yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_00

Anything else else? No, I'm I'm looking forward to the post-mortem.

Chris Grimes

So, ladies and gentlemen, this has been John Morrison's Legacy Life Reflections. Thank you very much indeed. And uh let's both say goodnight after three. One, two, three, good

Record Your Life Story With Us

Chris Grimes

night! You've been listening to the Good Listening to Show with me, Chris Grimes. If you'd like to be in the show too, or indeed gift an episode to capture the story of someone else with me as your host, then you can find out how to care of the series strands at the Good Listening2Show.com website. And one of these series strands is called Legacy Life Reflections. If you've been thinking about how to go about recording your life story or the life story of somebody close to you for posterity, but in a really interesting, effortless and creative way, then maybe the good listening to show can help. Using the unique structure of the show, I'll be your host as together we take a trip down memory lane to record the 5-4-3-2-1 of either your or their life story, and then you can decide whether you go public or private with your episode. Get in touch if you'd like to find out more. Tune in next week for more stories from the clearing, and don't forget to subscribe and review wherever you get your podcasts.