A CERTIFICATE of Appreciation was presented to Frederick Pote recently in recognition of his 71 years of trade union membership.
Mr Pote, from Gunnislake, joined the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers (AUBTW) at the age of 17 when the contribution was two pence per week. By then he had been working for three years at Kit Hill Quarry as an apprentice stonemason.
He left the quarry in 1940 and went to Bristol, working in an aircraft factory for a year before being called up to the army. During his five and a half years in the army he saw service in North Africa, Sicily and the Normandy Landings.
Returning to the area, Mr Pote worked at Merrivale Quarry as a foreman and later became manager for a number of years when the firm was involved in the refurbishment of Tower Bridge in London and the making of the Falklands Memorial at Port Stanley.
During his working life Mr Pote, who is now 87, served the AUBTW as a branch secretary of two branches and sat on the district committee for Cornwall for a great many years.
He told the Times it was an unexpected but lovely surprise to be presented with the certificate at a special lunch at the Chip Shop Inn.