As a youngster, John used to work for his Uncle John, delivering goods. When he was about 10 he started selling the match-day newspaper with the after match report – he soon learned to defend his spot and keep jostlers at bay. When he was fourteen he was apprenticed to the railways to learn to be an engineer. John started on the railways as an apprentice in 1941 at the tender age of fourteen and a half, he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.