John Bellamy Plumbers was founded by John and Audrey
Bellamy in 1951.
John Bellamy (left) was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire on April the 10th 1927.
After attending the local St.Annes primary school, followed by the Central Secondary Boys School, he left at the age of 14 to become an apprentice Plumber with a local family run firm of builders by the name of Fosters.
Technical College apprenticeship training was carried out at Nottingham, and John never misses an opportunity to reminisce to every present day youngster undergoing any form of formal training, how he had to travel to Nottingham each week on a Saturday, his day off, by train, at his own expense to complete the necessary training.
After having spelt out the so called “hardship” to all who will listen, John will always express a gratitude to the college lecturers all those years ago for the knowledge that they bestowed on him in those early years.
Serving his apprenticeship during the Second World War period meant that a
lot of tradesmen were away serving with the armed forces, and much of the work
John was involved with was the repairing of bomb damaged property including
reglazing the many broken windows, working on the local RAF and USAF bases and
billets, local munitions factories, and also the local Prisoner-of-War camps,
where a lot of the work entailed installing water mains and basic amenities.
In 1947 John moved to Tinwell in Rutland where his parents had taken over the tenancy of the Crown Inn public house in the village.
Having completed his apprenticeship at Fosters john sought employment with a local Stamford plumbing firm of Clarkes.
A copy of the reference handed to John on leaving Fosters can be seen.(here)
As a well established local firm, with a large workforce of tradesmen, they had a broad spectrum of plumbing work which included the stripping, recasting and relaying of many sheet lead roofs to the churches in the Lincolnshire area, with lead work still being one of the many traditional aspects carried on in business of John Bellamy Plumbers today.
John gained a lot of post apprenticeship experience in plumbing during his time at Clarkes.
On marrying Audrey Kirkby of Grantham, on the 17th March 1951, John and his new bride took the huge step into the unknown realms of self-employment.
Documentation had to be issued to register the fledgling company and copies of that registration can be seen (here)
After having tragically lost his Mother to cancer only one month prior to his marriage to Audrey, John and Audrey lodged with Johns father Mr Ernest Bellamy at the Crown Inn to enable them to assist in the daily running of the pub, as well as trying to build up the new plumbing business.
A photo of John, Ernest Bellamy, and Audrey can be seen behind the bar of the
Crown Inn
As a relatively unknown village plumber it was difficult to build up the business, especially in competition with his previous employers, and John had to at times resort to labouring on a local farm to make ends meet.
In an attempt to increase his work load John cycled to South Luffenham to present himself, in what would now be deemed a cold call, to local Building and Collyweston Slate Roofing Company J W Stapleton and Sons, a highly respected firm. After carrying out some early minor works for the company, John won the confidence of the proprietors James (Jim) and John (Jack) Stapleton, sons of the founder.
John went on to carry out all the major aspects of the plumbing and sheet lead requirements of the firm for many years, and work that included working on such properties as the Oxford Universities, and at Rockingham Castle.
The business link only being severed with the closing of J W Stapleton and Sons in the early nineteen nineties by the sons of John Stapleton, although John Bellamy Plumbers still continue to work for the widow of John.
The tenancy of the Crown Inn was withdrawn from Ernest Bellamy in 1960 and the pub had to be vacated.
John and Audrey, along with their now complete family of Michael, Roger, and Margaret, moved back to their routes at Grantham.
After contemplating ceasing to trade as a self-employed plumber any longer, John sought employment with his original employers of Fosters, but prior to starting work again at Fosters the loose ends of his old business had to be tidied up to enable the business to close.
In order to get assistance in winding down the business at Tinwell john sought additional labour from another local firm of Grantham plumbers Bridges and Co. under the ownership of Laurie Bridgestock.
This request proved to be a turning point for John. The employee seconded to assist John was Terry Bond, a young enthusiastic local plumber, who through his experience, enthusiasm for work, and the self confidence that he instilled into John, encouraged him to make a fresh start of the business in Grantham.
Terry left his previous employers and became the first employee of John Bellamy Plumbers.
The business grew with the advent of the new central heating boom of the early 1960’s and an opportunity arose for John Bellamy Plumbers to carry out all of the domestic installation work for the then “East Midlands Gas Board” for a number of years.
John also continued to work for some of the original clients in the Stamford and Rutland areas, an area that the firm still continues to service.
In 1972 the number of employees was three, including Mr Alan Featherstone, who still continues to work for the firm to this date.
Roger Bellamy joined the firm as an Apprentice Plumber on leaving school at 15 in 1972, and served his apprenticeship under his father John and Mr Alan Featherstone.
Terry bond left the firm in 1972 to found his only highly successful plumbing and heating company, and now having fully retired from the trade.
Roger attended Grantham Technical College to complete City and Guilds Advanced Craft standard training, along with a Technicians Part 1 certificate at Basford Hall College Nottingham. (but not in his own time on a Saturday!)
Roger became a partner in the business in 1985, and then in 1992, along with his wife Jan, became senior partner.
Jan gradually took over the administrative roles of the business under the guidance of Audrey, and John and Audrey took full retirement in 2000, leaving the running of the business to Roger and Jan, but they still continue to give their full support in any way that they can and still take an interest in the day to day running of John Bellamy Plumbers.
John can still be found accompanying Roger on jobs at times and taking a very active role in the work being carried out.
It is on the basis of Johns philosophy that you should set a standard of work to be proud of that still holds true today.