Tom’s Homepage

tom@trennie.co.uk


EARLY YEARS

Brought up on the family farm on the banks of the Tay and went to Dalguise and Aberfeldy Schools from 1948 to 1959. While working at home, I attended Craibstone Agricultural College and the North of Scotland Agricultural College from 1960 to 1963.

WORK IN AFRICA – 1964 TO 1989

Shortly after leaving the North of Scotland College of Agriculture in Aberdeen 1964 I spent the next five years in Uganda, running large groups farms producing cotton, maize & millet. The project also provided a tractor hire service to private farmers in Northern Uganda. As well as work, I spent a fair bit of time hunting & fishing.

From 1970 to 1989 I worked in Botswana with the Ministry of Agriculture for 12 years in Animal Production Research, and for the last 7 years running my own agricultural contracting company "AGRICON" building ranches, irrigation systems, boreholes and providing general agricultural services to the private and public sector. Great fun. Came home to the UK to ensure entry into university at "resident" rates for our three children.

UK RESIDENCE – 1989 TO PRESENT

On return to the UK we bought a house which was being used to provide two self-catering flats as holiday lets; we moved into one and continued to let out the other, so we immediately had a home, an income and the ability to take the children out of boarding school. Partly on the reputation of the children I’m sure, I got the post of Finance Officer at Keswick School  in 1993 and had 15 years interesting years at this work as the school moved through various phases of LEA controlled, Locally Managed, Grant Maintained, Voluntary Aided and latterly, Academy Status.

In 1991 I had also taken on the job of manager at the Alhambra Cinema – see more below.

My main work interest now is the Alhambra Cinema in Keswick. Just click on the name to learn more.  I managed this lovely old establishment built in 1914 from 1991 to 2012 and considered it a well-paid very enjoyable hobby and when the owner decided to close due to several years of uneconomic performance I took it over in March 2012.  I installed digital cinema in the first few months and shortly after also installed satellite broadcast reception so we can now show digital content in any format on screen in magnificent quality. Do make a visit when you are in the Lake District!. We made a short film for the centenary and this can be viewed here.

After completing the five year lease in 2017 the landlords offered to sell the Alhambra at a price I couldn’t refuse, so in March 2017 I bought the building and I am now in the process of handing over to my daughter & son-in-law who both seem very keen to keep the business going for another 100 years!


HOBBIES

a) Flying

I gained a PPL in Botswana in 1974 and flew for both work and pleasure for 15 years and converted my Botswana Licence to a UK one in 1989 and also the UK’s IMC rating and continued to fly Cessnas and Socatas till 2005 when I decided my hearing was not up to the job – you can only repeat “Say again runway in use” twice when controllers begin to sound a bit tetchy! Had lovely flights to Mull, Islay, Isle of Man and various mainland airfields in those 15 years. Since learning to fly I have accumulated a little under 1,000 hours PIC time so I had a very good innings.

SOCATA TOBAGO

This was the main aircraft I flew from Carlisle whilst in the UK.

We were also able to rent a Cessna in Australia when we visited our daughter there a few years ago.

OUR AUSTRALIAN MAGIC CARPET

 

 

 

 

 

 

b)Cycling

I work with Sustrans on part of their Coast to Coast route which passes through Keswick. They have a nice web page at www.sustrans.org.uk. I never leave the house NOT on my folding bike, be that just round the corner or on a trip to Berlin or Barcelona so I clock up 1000 miles+ a year. I have also ridden the C2C Coast to Coast ride from Whitehaven to Sunderland a couple of times and in 2004 I rode LEJOG – Land’s end to John O’Groats in 12 days; I took the soft option of pre-booking a comfy B&B at 82 mile intervals!

c)Film Club

I’m a trustee of the Keswick Film Club which screens alternative film in Keswick throughout the winter months. This is now in its 20th year and is one of the most successful in the country. We also screen an annual Film Festival in February. The webpage at http://www.keswickfilmclub.org/  is worth a look.

d)Family

We have three "children" who have all flown the nest. Carol & Sandra are twins born in 1972 and Paul in 1974.

Carol obtained a PhD in Chinese Literature and held posts in The British Council in Beijing, The Royal Society London, Queen Mary University of London and at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, before returning to the UK in 2017.She has two sons, Joshua born in 2008 and Zac in 2014.

Her sister Sandra studied medicine at Edinburgh University and is currently a consultant in A & E in Busselton, Australia where she is enjoying both the work and play with her partner Andy Dykstra and son Ziggy born in 2011. She is also the “landlord” of her partner’s very successful brewery and restaurant in Margaret River.

Paul trained as an aerospace design engineer and worked initially for Lola Cars on carbon fibre design, then moved to Sauber F1 is Hinwil, Switzerland and is now with Renault F1 in Chipping Norton. He had Freya in 2007 and James in 2010

I have recorded some "Jottings for Our Grandchildren" (although we had none when I wrote this we now have five!), mainly stories about bush flying in Botswana and some of these are reproduced below.

1.     A BULL IN THE BUSH

2.     TSODILO HILLS

3.     FIRST FLIGHT INTO TAKOTAKWANE

4.     LOOKING FOR A HOME

5.     I HAD A FARM IN AFRICA

6.     OKAVANGO ODYSSEY

7.     BOTSWANA'S WILD WEST

8.     BUSH MECHANICS