Don Ritson, Architect and later Assistant General Manager 1978-1985

Don was born in Bolton; on leaving school he was articled to a Manchester architect, and took an 8 year part-time course, linked with the Regional College of Art at Manchester. After working at Lancashire County Council, he chose to do town planning and took a town planning degree at the University of Manchester. When Runcorn New Town was designated, Fred Roche interviewed him and said he could be a planner. But after a short time Fred moved him back to architecture. Don comments on Fred’s success in making progress: Runcorn was always ahead of the other new towns. Fred worked everyone very hard but was very involved himself. After a disagreement with Fred over building materials, Don took a job in Edinburgh working on schools architecture, but he and Fred still got on reasonably well.