Gordon Bourn retired on Friday December 1 from his job in the ticket office at Rye station, a few weeks before his 70th birthday in January. He has worked here for the last 30 years, he told me, having joined British Rail 10 years earlier in pre-privatisation days. At that time, there was dual track from Ashford to Hastings and freight trains were frequent. He has seen some changes, some good, some bad, he said. Shifts used to be much longer, from 5:30am to 12:30pm and then till 10 o’clock at night. Nowadays, the working day is much shorter. The line is far busier today.
What has he enjoyed most about the job? “The camaraderie between staff, and the relations with passengers", he answered. What he did not enjoy however were were the train strikes and cancellations, which made life difficult and inconvenienced the travelling public.
Gordon has lived in Rye all his life. He is looking forward to retirement and will be kept busy re-decorating at home and doing a bit of gardening. He’s not afraid of being bored because “that has always gone with the job, and boredom goes out of the window.”
As I was talking with him, several regular passengers came in to wish him well. He has become one of the living landmarks in the town and we’ll be seeing him about but out of uniform.
photo: Kenneth Bird
