Welcome to the BBC by Mhairi MacDonald-Greig
January 1978. It one of these lovely bright crisp winter days when I pulled the door to behind me, popped the keys through the letterbox and set off in to the future full of excitement and apprehension.
I was going to join the BBC as a trainee Audio Assistant and set off with a suitcase containing all I owned in one hand and my joining instructions on BBC headed paper in the other.
After successfully negotiating the plane from Aberdeen to London and a couple of trains, I eventually arrived at Evesham railway station. There, I was told, I would see a bus waiting marked’ Wood Norton’ which I was to board to take me to the training college. There, it appeared, my luck looked about to run out.
I set foot on the first step and was told by the driver that this wasn’t my bus.
“But it’s going to Wood Norton.”
“Yes, but not for you.”
“But that’s where I’m going.”
“Not on this bus.”
“Why?”
“It’s for the BBC Engineering Training College.”
“Yes, that’s where I’m going.”
“I don’t think so – It’s the BBC ENGINEERING Training College.”
At this 2 guys flashed their joining instructions at him and jumped confidently on to the coach, so I dug out mine and showed it to the driver and eventually and very reluctantly he allowed me on.
It was only when I saw that all the other passenger were male that I realised the reason for the driver’s reticence. Past experience had proved to him that all students at the college were men and as one of the first women admitted I was forcing him to break his misconception that engineer was synonymous with man.
However the very favourable female/male ratio at the college meant I did have a great social life during my 3 months there!
