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The disappearance of the iconic Swan Hunter cranes from the Tyneside skyline was a sad sight for many people who live in the region.

But for crane operator John Purvis, from Wallsend, it was more personal than that.

John worked at the Swan Hunter shipyard on the River Tyne for 25 years, first as a boy distributing the mail around the yard and then from the age of 20 as a crane driver.

The skyline as it was

"In them days you just went up with the old timers who were there and they taught you the ropes," John recalls. "Then you went to the next old timer and the next so you could build your skills up and eventually you got your own crane.

"It was a bit daunting obviously because of the height. They're massive pieces of machinery and they can be dangerous as well so you had to just take your time.

"But the old timers were nice – as long as you took a couple of tea bags up they were happy!"

Head for heights

John says the cabs in some of the old Swan Hunter cranes were massive – the drivers took up kettles (hence the tea bags), TVs, radios, books and magazines to pass the time when they weren't needed.

"When you first started it was lonely," says John. "When you came home you found yourself talking more because you'd had no-one to speak to all day, but you get used to it after a while."

John worked on all the cranes in the shipyard, including the massive red ones, which could lift up to 180 tonnes.

The cabs on those cranes were 250ft high and the jib another 100ft above that – not a job for the faint-hearted!

"After a while it's [the height's] absolutely nothing - I don't even think twice now," he says, completely unfazed. "It's just like a little home in the sky and you've got to work there." And of course the view wasn't bad either - especially on Guy Fawkes Night.

John on one of the cranes at Swans

Like driving a car

After more than 20 years driving cranes, John's seen massive changes in technology and likens the joysticks on the cranes at Port of Blyth, where he works now, to a PlayStation.

Good hand-eye co-ordination is, of course, essential but it was especially so at Swan Hunters where there were no cameras on the jib ends to assist the drivers – it really was all down to the eye.

Precision is vital to bring together sections of the ship for welding but John and the other drivers also had to lift everything into the ships as they were being fitted out and John even lifted the Pride of the Tyne ferry out of the yard and into the river.

"It's just like driving a car for the first time, you're a bit wary, but after a while you don't even think about putting the gears in. It's the same as driving a crane, after a while the judgement just comes naturally."

The cranes are going to India

Fantastic job

Not surprisingly after such a long period working in one place John was sad to see the demise of shipbuilding at Wallsend. However, having being paid off seven times from Swans over the years it didn't come as a massive surprise.

"You often look for them [the cranes] when you come down the A19 from Scotland and now you just see nothing. It's pretty sad because they were excellent pieces of machinery and we built some lovely ships. We done the area proud.

"But you've got to pay the bills, you move onto the next place. You've got to be hard on yourself."

John is still in touch with a lot of the people he worked with at Swans and they all try to help each other find work – there's still a good camaraderie just as there was at the yard.

And even after 25 years John's love of cranes hasn't tired. "It's a fantastic job to be in," he smiles.