C20th

In the summer of 1983 I became the first member of my family to be awarded a degree. I returned to the seaside town I grew up in with the letters BSc(Hons) after my name. I then became the first member of my family to sign up on the dole. The poor economic prospects of the inhabitants of coastal resorts are fairly well known nowadays, but back then it was something that was obvious enough if you lived in one but which weren’t that well known in the rest of the country. But nonetheless it was a frustrating time. The only source of work I had access to was the Job Centre which offered the odd paid gig for which there was considerable competition. I did a bit of moving of office furniture.