Packing it in.

[Guest Gimlet]

Decided to pack in the hedge laying. Got no work booked in for this winter. The only enquiries I've had are for hedge planting at grant funding rates. Can't be bothered with that. I'd rather lay bricks. 

 

Tried to book in for a couple of chainsaw courses as well. It's taken eight months for them to get back to me with a place and then they only gave me three days notice of the date which is hopeless. And despite asking repeatedly, I've still no idea what the fees are.

 

Tried to get tree-related work up here but no one even replies. Once you're over fifty you're effectively dead as far as employers are concerned and all applications and work enquiries just go in the bin.

 

It's all more trouble than its worth. So I'm not going to renew my NHLS contractor's ad and put the truck up for sale. Back to the building trade. I hate it with a passion but as least I can earn a proper living from it.

Edited November 11, 2022 by Gimlet

[Mick Dempsey]

Sorry to hear that. 
Where is “up here”?

[5thelement]

41 minutes ago, Gimlet said:

Decided to pack in the hedge laying. Got no work booked in for this winter. The only enquiries I've had are for hedge planting at grant funding rates. Can't be bothered with that. I'd rather lay bricks. 

 

Tried to book in for a couple of chainsaw courses as well. It's taken eight months for them to get back to me with a place and then they only gave me three days notice of the date which is hopeless. And despite asking repeatedly, I've still no idea what the fees are.

 

Tried to get tree-related work up here but no one even replies. Once you're over fifty you're effectively dead as far as employers are concerned and all applications and work enquiries just go in the bin.

 

It's all more trouble than its worth. So I'm not going to renew my NHLS contractor's ad and put the truck up for sale. Back to the building trade. I hate it with a passion but as least I can earn a proper living from it.

That’s a shame. I don’t know anyone up that end of the country sadly. Loads of work in Kent, you could be in a course in weeks and working the next day in Chestnut coppice. There are several competition hedge layers that I trained in that area too who might be able to offer or know of hedge work.

PM me if you want any details.

[Guest Gimlet]

I couldn't afford to live in the south east and tbh I wouldn't want to. I moved to the north east to get away from overcrowding. Dorset was bad enough. Certainly quieter up here but reduced work opportunities are the price you pay I suppose.

 

The depressing thing is finding out you've become an invisible non-person once you're over fifty. 

It's stupid too. I've been working on the building with lads half my age and I'm invariably more productive and outwork all of them. Mainly because I work smarter and tidier from long experience, I turn up on time in the morning and don't spend half the day slurping energy drinks or looking at my phone. 

And yet, it seems I'm unofficially on the scrap heap. 

[Bolt]

26 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Sorry to hear that. 
Where is “up here”?

County Durham 

[Sutton]

Best of Luck. I've enjoyed your posts over the years and hope you'll look in here from time to time.

[Guest Gimlet]

Thanks. I probably won't be back tbh. I wish I'd gone into tree work my when I was young, instead of the building trade. But it seems it's too late, so I'll be off. No point looking through the window when you can't come in.

[5thelement]

5 minutes ago, Gimlet said:

Thanks. I probably won't be back tbh. I wish I'd gone into tree work my when I was young, instead of the building trade. But it seems it's too late, so I'll be off. No point looking through the window when you can't come in.

It’s never too late, you just need your luck to change and it won’t if you retreat, I’ve trained climbers in their sixties to do bat survey work.

If you go on the LANTRA website it will come up with all the training providers running courses in your area, dodge the colleges, they are limited on timescales for courses and in my experience are quite often mediocre.

 

[Bolt]

Whatever you do, for Christ’s sake don’t get rid of your hand tools.

[Guest Gimlet]

9 minutes ago, 5thelement said:

It’s never too late, you just need your luck to change and it won’t if you retreat, I’ve trained climbers in their sixties to do bat survey work.

If you go on the LANTRA website it will come up with all the training providers running courses in your area, dodge the colleges, they are limited on timescales for courses and in my experience are quite often mediocre.

 

It's Northumberland College that wants to sign me up without telling me what type of qualification it will be or how much it costs. They sent me the enrollment and payment forms with no mention at all of the fee. The college website doesn't tell you either. Under costs it just says "enquire". What bloody use is that? 

 

I asked the enrollment officer or whoever she is: 1. what qualification is it? Is it Lantra or NPTC C&G? And 2. How much does it cost. She won't answer me. Just repeats please return the forms or your place will go to someone else. It's like talking to the wall. 

 

I'd also approached Land based training last October. Their Course was NPTC but they didn't get back to me until the following August and then it was on a Friday, to say there was a place available for me on Monday.

It all seems completely shambolic. 

Edited November 11, 2022 by Gimlet