One of my first field training experiences was at the ISCC located on the old Level 1 at Paddington. I was introduced to Paul Mulcahy, Pat Anderson and Eddie Tammes. Pat and Paul were nice people but I found Eddie to be a very cranky and angry person. I was later told that this was probably due to his Dutch heritage but I think that it was just Eddie being Eddie.
When I finished my training I spent 12 months in Head Office working in the Quality of Service Section under Ernie Wan and Graham Markey. QoS had a close linkage to ISCC as it produced some of the qualitative reporting used by QoS so my association became almost a daily one albeit over the phone. I had a great time working for Ernie who was a great boss. I also had the real pleasure of working with Roy Ranger. He was a great character and a really nice guy.
After 12 months I was anxious to get to a technical area with hands-on exposure to equipment. I wrote a number of letters requesting a transfer and was getting nowhere when Roy suggested that I ask Ron Flood. Floody was really accommodating and delegated the task to Lawrie Waller with instruction that I be sent to Broadway. Lawrie sent me to Paddington ITMC. In his mind I think that he thought it to be punishment as Broadway was the newer station with handpicked staff capable of understanding and adapting to the newer technology which may have been correct at that time. 5 years later Paddington had a new Ericsson AKE telephone exchange. Technology is never static.
I spent the next 17 years at Paddington and enjoyed every minute of it. What a great bunch of people and what a great experience for my first job!
I worked with ISCC and ITMC more closely than with teh other groups at Paddington.
Below is a picture taken by the Marketing Section for which Jim Hulme (ITMC) was asked to pose alongside Eddie.
Peter Bull
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