Barry Dean

Barry was born and raised as the third child in a family of four in Cambridge. He lived by the river Cam in the heart of the city, attending local schools and then onto college to study Electronics in pursuit of a career in this up-and-coming industry. His parents were not affluent and had to take in lodgers and sell “lunch” to local workers to make ends meet. In fact, Barry's father Jack had to take on two jobs, as a wireman by day and a waiter at Jesus College in the evenings, meaning Barry barely saw his father during the week, and only briefly at weekends. After his early years as an electronic test and eventually design engineer, Barry discovered leak testing and has dedicated most of his working life to this subject.

Barry has been married to Maureen for nearly 40 years. When they got married, they moved to the village of Bar Hill near Cambridge and have been active members of village life as their sons Adam and Nathan have grown up. Barry coached children’s football for over 20 years and ran three youth teams, eventually ending up managing two adult teams once his children grew up. Barry also ran the village table tennis club for three years, quadrupling its participants during that time. Not content with this, Barry also became a member of the local Parish Council but had to give this up after just over a year due to work and his other sporting commitments.

Barry retired in 2020, and now spends much of his time painting, making models, and generally doing all sorts of odd jobs around his home, as well as the static caravan that he secured just an hour and a half from home some six years ago. His son Nathan and partner Georgia have now presented Barry with his first grandchild, who he loves spending time and playing games with. They can often be found on a bridge above a stream playing “Pooh-Sticks”.

One of Barry’s passions is football, and he was an avid fan of Cambridge United, also acting as programme seller for the club for many years. Barry’s other big passion is Lego, and as well as a bedroom full of models, he also supports the “First Lego League”, acting as a coach and mentor at local schools, and also refereeing and supporting the competitions in Peterborough, Cambridge, and Bristol.

Retirement finally gave Barry the opportunity to write this book, which has been on his “to-do” list for many years but was never completed due to work and other commitments.