John’s Model Madness

My Grandad, John G. Richardson, passed away in March ‘20. He goes to join his wife Francis ‘Nana’ Olwen and is survived by two sons and several grandchildren.

For the majority of his life John was a keen draughtsman, engineer and occasional artist, some of which can be found on his website.

The following links will take you to Grandad’s website: John’s Model Madness

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About John G. Richardson

Written by John G. Richardson

Leaving school at 15 with some School Certificates ( The equivalent of todays O level exams ) in Art , Architecture, English and Maths. John tried a number of jobs then at 17, on the insistance of the family, he took the UK Civil Service Examination and, un-beknown to them, purposely failed, as he definitely did not want to become a Civil Servant !

Architectural studies commenced when employed as a draftsman with a well-known firm of architects. The partners in the firm had both been senior officers in the Royal Engineers, as had John’s Grandfather and Uncle, the former having been through The Boer War so there was plenty of encouragement to join up.

John enlisted in the Engineers when a path opened for a Duration of Emergency Commision. This entailed War Office Selection Board then Infantry Training followed by Royal Engineers Corps Training in all apects of field engineering such as bridging, demolition and explosives, use of equipment, military law etc.

On leaving the army and joining a construction firm experience was gained whilst assisting a Contract Manager based at head office then an Agent on detachment on a construction site. The company had a substantial joinery works and later work as a draftsman in that department provided experience in general joinery, museum and hospital fitting as well as drafting work on a 12’ x 9’ working section for a major Wind Tunnel, on the formwork for constructions such as the Sellafield Chimneys and on spillway models for Hydro-electric Dams

Formwork and Mouldwork for concrete, a speciality of the firm, became John’s major interest and shaped the future for him. Formwork for insitu concrete and Mouldwork for precast concrete elements would feature in most aspects of Johns career in 20 years as a Designer, Supervisor and Works Manager on Insitu concrete construction and in Precast Concrete works. Products of these works included Cladding Panels and substantial prestressed beams for Motorway bridges and River crossings.

At 43 John became a lecturer/trainer with the Cement Industry Trainining and Research Establishment working at all levels including with Engineers, Architects, Foremen, Supervisors and Tradesmen, this led to work abroad in Scandinavia, Europe, India, North Africa and North and South America.

At 59 John set up as Private Consultant and worked with more than 40 firms, dealing with concrete manufacture and production including arbitration, also working as a visiting lecturer in Colleges and Universities, as well as carrying out technical assessments for BSI in the precast industry, carrying on working to the age of 75.

John holds a Silver Medal of the City and Guilds of London Institute for whom he was an Examiner for 20 years. is a past Fellow of the Institute of Concrete Technology and has a Diploma in Works Management

Publications include six books on practical aspects of Formwork and Mould Design and on construction topics including Supervision of Concrete Construction and Product Quality as well as several sketch books on practicalities. Unusually his first book was published when John was working as a supervisor in the precast concrete industry !

Throughout all these years John has been making models of various kinds and assembling a workshop where he can tackle any type of timber or metal work. Other hobbies include Cartoons and artwork, the cartoons provided some useful income throughout 25 years of contributions to magazines and in CDs and DVDs used in Continuing Professional Education.