At our meeting on 5th August Rita Merrick gave a fascinating account of her life entitled 'From Scunthorpe to Harley Street and return'. She told us of her early life living at the Cement Works in South Ferriby and now she lives part of the time at her home in Scawby and partly in Port Douglas, Cairns, Australia.
When she left Barton Grammar School at age 16 she was accepted as a trainee shorthand typist at Scunthorpe Steelworks. It was 1965 and in those days the steelworks took on 100 trainees per year. Rita told how she progressed and eventually she moved to Reading. She found temping work locally and then accepted a job working for a consultant in Harley Street. She still works for 5 consultants but following a recent illness she actually works remotely from wherever she happens to be in the world typing up their reports on her very secure laptop.
Rita has been married three times - widowed, divorced and now very recently married to her third husband a few weeks ago. Years ago she had visited Australia several times and a favourite place was Port Douglas, Cairns, which looks out to the Great Barrier Reef. By coincidence, her husband, had also lived in Australia for a number of years and they both discovered Port Douglas was a favourite place to such an extent that they are hoping to settle there permanently in the near future. Rita plans to carry on with her work which she so obviously enjoys. She was a very charismatic speaker and so full of life, it was obvious she enjoys every moment of it.
When she left Barton Grammar School at age 16 she was accepted as a trainee shorthand typist at Scunthorpe Steelworks. It was 1965 and in those days the steelworks took on 100 trainees per year. Rita told how she progressed and eventually she moved to Reading. She found temping work locally and then accepted a job working for a consultant in Harley Street. She still works for 5 consultants but following a recent illness she actually works remotely from wherever she happens to be in the world typing up their reports on her very secure laptop.
Rita has been married three times - widowed, divorced and now very recently married to her third husband a few weeks ago. Years ago she had visited Australia several times and a favourite place was Port Douglas, Cairns, which looks out to the Great Barrier Reef. By coincidence, her husband, had also lived in Australia for a number of years and they both discovered Port Douglas was a favourite place to such an extent that they are hoping to settle there permanently in the near future. Rita plans to carry on with her work which she so obviously enjoys. She was a very charismatic speaker and so full of life, it was obvious she enjoys every moment of it.