Robert Kenneth (Ken) James

Ken James was the born and raised in the small village of Woodhouse on the outskirts of Loughborough. He attended Quorn Grammar School and obtained his ‘Oxford School Certificate’ at the age of 15. He attended the then Loughborough College to study Civil Engineering starting in January 1946 having missed the first term as he was not allowed to leave school until he was 16 years old.  Ken studied hard, was conscientious and dedicated. He achieved  First Class Honours Diploma in Civil Engineering in July 1948.

Once Ken completed his time at college he was subscripted to National Service which involved a six month deployment to Kenya. His newly acquired civil engineering skills were put to the test when asked to oversee the building of an Education Centre and Mud Huts for the local people of McKinnon Road near Mombasa.

Once National Service completed Ken's first job was working for McKenzies filling in mine shaft holes however sadly the company soon went into administration. Ken managed to secure a job as a junior engineer working for R. M. Douglas, a Birmingham based construction company in April 1951.

He was posted to work in South Wales in the Swansea Office and his first job was at Trostre Steel Works in Llanelli. Ken developed valuable skills within his role and worked his way up the ranks within the company securing the role of Contracts Manager. He was subsequently appointed as South Wales Area Associate Director in 1968 and with continued success and responsibility he was appointed South Wales Area Manager in 1971, a position he maintained until his retirement in 1991 completing 40 years working for the company.

Whilst in post R.M. Douglas obtained contracts for many major projects across the South Wales area including the rebuilding Swansea Market after it was demolished during the 3 day blitz on Swansea during the war in 1941.  They undertook building works at both Morriston and Singleton Hospital and at Port Talbot Steel works. He oversaw the building of Sainsbury’s in Swansea and the building of a section of the M4 at Pyle. His proudest moments however involved meeting the then Prince Charles (now King Charles) at the opening of Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr which they built and meeting Prince Phillip Duke of York at the opening of the extension at Swansea Guildhall in 1976. It was a time of great development for R M Douglas within South Wales during his time in office.

To add to his bow, he was elected as Chairman of the Federation of Civil Engineers in South Wales in 1982 and his Diploma in Civil Engineering was upgraded to degree level at Loughborough University in 2009 in recognition of his continued commitment to lifelong learning, teaching and development within Civil Engineering.

Ken retired in 1991 and had a long and happy retirement but never gave up his passion for civil engineering with regular visits in recent years to see the ongoing progress of the Heads of the Valleys Road and the building of the new sea wall defence wall in Mumbles in Swansea. 

Ken passed away peacefully at home after a short illness aged 96 years surrounded by his loving family.