Position: Member
Admitted: 7 Feb 2022
Barrie, now 78 and a widower, left school at 15. By the early 60s he was an experienced 18-year-old apprentice, part of a four-man team tasked with installing an iron pipe central heating system in Durham Cathedral. One of the main elements of operation required digging a trench the length of the building to the side of the main aisle. The underground pipe highway it produced linked pipes to radiators around the World Heritage site, including the triforium, a walkway high above their heads.
“The groundwork was held up many times when we unearthed old human bones, with cathedral authorities stepping in to complete all the formalities before we could restart,” said Barrie. Though he spent the bulk of his working life in the city he was employed by a Teesside company when he retired at 65. He now enjoys walking and takes particular pleasure in exercising his son’s dog.
