The Saltburn Profile Tony Smith ―I never say no to anything,‖ admits Tony Smith, the Chairman of Saltburn Community and Arts Association. ―That‘s why I‘m so busy!‖ He‘s been a member of the ‘53 Drama Group for almost thirty years and acted in their productions before focusing more on directing in Saltburn‘s theatre. Readers may remember him in the pantomimes. Tony was born in Sheffield, where he was brought up with two brothers. After he left Jordanthorpe Secondary Modern School, he went to work locally on his aunt‘s dairy farm. He used to ride a horse bareback and take a dog along to get the cows in and loved the freedom of being in the countryside. A couple of years later, he took an apprenticeship as a greenkeeper at Sheffield‘s Abbeydale Golf Course and as he thoroughly enjoyed it, stayed for nearly six years. He then moved to Hallows Golf Club for five years, before returning to Abbeydale for a further four years. It was there that he met his wife Lorna, forty-seven years ago. ―She‘s been my rock all the way through,‖ he says. He got to know her as a Police Officer, but she gave up her job to come further north with him, when he was offered the position of Head Greenkeeper at Cleveland Golf Club, Redcar. She had intended to return to policing once the family were settled, but because she had to wear glasses for driving, she was unable to do so. Cleveland Police had stricter entry rules than South Yorkshire. As a result, Lorna went to work for Goodswens Solicitors in Redcar, initially as a PA to Mike Boyes, but then as a fee earner in her own right after taking a Legal Executive course. She eventually specialised in probate and wills and continued at Goodswens for almost forty years, before retiring last summer. Spotting a gap in the market, she then set up her own business offering home visits to people with questions about these. ―You can see her advert in Talk of the Town,‖ says Tony. Tony and Lorna have a daughter, Nicola and a son, Andrew. They both went to Huntcliff School and thoroughly enjoyed it. Nicola has two children, Benjamin aged thirteen and Adam, who‘s eleven. Tony‘s proud that she has a senior job in the NHS as the Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children at Tees Esk and Wear Valley NHS Trust. Andrew joined the Navy at seventeen and rose to become a Chief Petty Officer before leaving as a fully qualified engineer. He initially worked for a French company dealing with steam engines on power stations, but is now Head of Service for AVK-SEG who are UK leaders in critical power solutions. The company has recently forged links with Sirius Minerals in North Yorkshire, providing back up UPS generators and battery storage. Andrew has two children: Dylan aged eleven and Thea, who‘s four. Following a three year stint at Cleveland Golf Club, Tony moved to Teesside Golf Club at Thornaby, where he stayed for thirty-two years. ―I retired from there seven years ago and by then, I was Chairman of the National Greenkeepers‘ Association, which had seven thousand members and was based in York,‖ he says. ―Before that, I was a Trustee on the Board for fifteen years.‖ ―Lorna and I used to run the Saltburn Cub Scouts together too from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s,‖ he says.
by Rosemary Nicholls
―We had two Cub packs on Mondays and Wednesdays and we introduced them to map reading, trail finding, camping and a lot of fossil hunting on the beach. We used to walk from Saltburn to Skinningrove and from Skelton to Saltburn and then share bags of chips together.‖ Tony still loves to walk and does so now with their three year old spaniel, Toby. They go through the woods and along the beach to Marske and sometimes further afield in their caravan to the Lakes or Northumberland. He likes to get away from the hustle and bustle now and again. With his long experience of greenkeeping, Tony is in demand for advice on lawns and spends a couple of days a week on this, helping mainly friends with ideas for improvement. As he travels, he likes to have Smooth Radio or Radio 1 on in the car. He enjoys hearing different views and keeps up with political debates, getting more involved since the Brexit vote. He watches Question Time, Peston and Prime Minister‘s Questions (if he‘s in) on TV. His keenness to hear the other person‘s point of view has led to him enjoying being a Board member and now Chairman at SCAA. In his younger days he played squash; today he plays golf sometimes. He loves to watch tennis and golf. In 2012, he and Lorna went to the Ryder Cup at Medina Golf Club in Chicago, which was a very great pleasure. He worked around the country at the British Open for twelve years and met top players, such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. But he‘s very happy now spending more of his time in our locality. ―Saltburn‘s a great place,‖ he says, ―We‘ve got very few empty shops and there‘s a lot going on. It‘s a beautiful town with an excellent community spirit.‖ 47