William was never happy about waking up early, as he was always a late-nighter. His journey to school was a long one from Burnley to Blackburn on the bus, and to make it he had to be up very early. It was at this school where he met 3 others who also disliked sports, so they all opted to weed instead. All four went on to university (quite rare back then for boys from Burnley) and work in Africa at some point in their lives.

He had asked his dad if it was Okay to do this and his dad told him, "You can, but you'll find a job by yourself, I won't help".

In the next few years he worked in a Jewellers & a Tool makers (foundry) (both in the admin office - he never made stuff). The next job found him in a Law Clerk's where a condition of starting was that he signed up to continue his education. This was his road back to education.