CLICK HERE FOR FULL PAGE -
THE TOORINGTON BELLS -
THE TOORINGTON BELLS -
ANDREW ROBERTS - He Always Followed Himself
It is often
said it is jobs that make people. This can sometimes be true. But,
Andrew Roberts is himself because of himself. He's a man who always
followed himself, and everything else simply followed after him. And,
when Andrew Roberts first came to Toorington he was part of a package
and only 18.
And, being
18 and new in a village was no easy thing. The little village of
Toorington was, to someone from London, a very strange place. And,
the package that Andrew Roberts was part of was his family. His
father had got a new job in the south-west of England, and Toorington
was not only nice, but good value as well. Houses, in those days,
were cheap. And so, there was Andrew Roberts, all alone and a long
way from London and the friends he had left. But, Andrew Roberts soon
saw the potential that Toorington had and wasted no time.
To begin
with, Andrew Roberts got a job mucking out pigs on a farm. And,
being mechanically minded, was soon spending more and more time
repairing the tractors and other machines on the farm. And, the
farmer was happy and the pay was more than OK. And, Andrew saved
and saved and saved. He had an idea and a plan. And, so it was that
Andrew bought his first second-hand tractor. And then, after just
one very small ad in the paper, Andrew sold his first second-hand
tractor for a very nice profit. And, Andrew never looked back.
Within just a very short time, he had become very well known. His
tractors, it was said, were very good bargains. Business was great
and growing all the time. And, that's how Andrew started his
business.
But, of
course, life wasn't only work, there was family, too. Andrew fell in
love and married a very nice girl and her name was June. And, she
was local. And, that was perfect. Andrew Roberts had arrived! He
was now one of the locals. And, Andrew and June had three wonderful
children. A girl and two boys. And, it was Andrew's daughter Emma
who caused Andrew's first business upset. It was the first Saturday
in June. Emma was ten at the time, and Andrew was running a stall at
the Annual Toorington Sale. And, there he was selling little
stuffed toys. A thing he did every year.
And, it was
whilst Andrew was enjoying his lunch in the Toorington Arms that Emma
paid him a visit. She needed twenty five pounds. She had just found
just the right things for great Christmas presents on a stand at the
Toorington Sale. Andrew gave Emma the money and carried on enjoying
his lunch; a very good friend was looking after his stall so all
would be well. And, it was later that night when Andrew discovered
the terrible truth! Emma had bought fifteen very expensive little
blue horses from his very own stand! And, worse still, they were his
best moving products. Everyone wanted one. It couldn't be true.
Andrew had, and without even knowing it, spent a big part of his
profits on fifteen little stuffed horses from China. He had given
them away with his very own money! But, what could he do? Nothing!
Emma was happy and, to help Andrew feel better, June made a nice cup
of hot tea. And, of course, everyone thought the whole thing
hilarious. But, that was all a long time ago.
And now, all
these years later, Andrew's two sons are now running the business and
doing very well. Which is of course perfect. Andrew and June now
have the time for going to dances. And, they have even won one or
two cups. But, despite their dancing successes, June still rides
her horse Peggy and Andrew still buys and sells second hand tractors,
but now on a much smaller scale. Life hasn't changed, it's just
become different.
It is often
said it is jobs that make people. This maybe true. But, it was
Andrew Roberts who made many many jobs for very many people down in
the south-west of England. Andrew Roberts, a popular man down in
the village of Toorington. Andrew Roberts – he always followed
himself.
