Tom Smith, Waterworks Caretaker. Tom Smith left school when he was 13. ‘My father handed me a shovel and told me to make a living for myself.’ He recalls his first job was picking potatoes for farmers for half a crown a day.
His father Jim worked with Sligo County Council for 40 years, mainly as a carter. When he fell ill, Tom took over the reins. "I started with the Council in 1956, and looking back now people would say it was tough, but we didn’t see it like that. I used get up at 6.00 a.m., and travel the eight miles to work with my ass and cart. There was no tea-break in those days, at mid-day I’d stop by the roadside for lunch – maybe a mug of tea and soda cake. I’d be home around 6.30 in the evening; that was the routine six days a week’.
‘The people of the area were very friendly. They would love to see you coming; there were no televisions or newspapers and like the postmen we had the news of the road. It is sad now that so many of these good people have passed away, and every day I pass ruins of old houses where we shared many a pot of tea.
There was 6 in our family, and though we hadn’t much money were self-sufficient and had plenty to eat with spuds, milk and eggs. I remember I used to hand my wages over for the running of the house, and if I wanted to out for a night I nearly had to give a week’s notice – nothing like today.’
Tom held down a few jobs for the Council, including labourer and driver. He remembers pulling material from Danny Herity’s quarry where Ellens pub now stands. Tom was appointed waterworks caretaker for North Sligo in 1995. ‘I have kept the habits of a lifetime. I still get up around 6.00 a.m and am in the plant by 7.30. I know the minute I step into the plant if there was anything wrong. At this stage I’d almost sense it below in the house.’
Advances in technology means that a computer at the plant gives Tom instant access to details of reservoirs and pumping stations throughout the North Sligo Area. His first duty is to check the intake from the mountain, then check the main reservoir at Barnaderrig. Filters would also have to be checked, maybe cleaned, and then he would test the water for chlorine. The day’s routine would take Tom around North Sligo checking pipelines, checking for leaks and bad pressure,reading meters and calling in to the sewerage works in Grange and Mullaghmore.
Sometimes in wintry conditions Tom has to take out the tractor to make it up the hill to the plant. Even though he has become very adept with all the technology at his disposal, you get the impression he doesn’t fully trust it. ‘I call in to the plant every night around 9.00 for a final check.’
Tom is married to Mary, who works in St. John’s Hospital, and they have 3 children, Catriona, Thomas and Brendan. If he had to start over again, Tom feels he would stay at school a bit longer and pick up a trade. But he certainly no regrets about his job. ‘I have two years to go in the job. I know the nature of the job means you are either working or available for work 24 hours a day 7 days a week, but I love every minute of it. It’s as good as sweetcake to me.’