Ivan Shaw is a well-known Barnsley figure whom I taught alongside at Kexborough Junior School in the 1970s and 80s. He was a trusted friend, great fun and slightly eccentric.

His past was interesting and his future unconventional. As well as being a teacher, Ivan was a semi professional musician and amateur comedian, with a passion for aviation and invention.

He achieved his pilot’s licence and bought an aeroplane in 1980, then set about building his own aircraft in his garage on Pogmoor Road –opposite Penny Pie Park.

I remember visiting him and spending a full 30 seconds sanding down his pilot’s seat, fashioned from fibreglass.

“Had enough already?” he asked, incredulously.

“I have, mate. But when you become rich and famous I want you to remember the vital part I played in your success.”

“Thar a warm ‘un,” he replied, followed by his typical Basil Brush laugh.

It wasn’t long before his plane was flying in the Barnsley skies, drawing the attention of hundreds. The unusual design meant it appeared to fly backwards, but things didn’t always run smoothly.

One day Ivan almost came a cropper whilst flying over Brierley Common. The petrol in the fuel pipe froze solid and the engine cut out, so he had to crash-land.

That evening, on the way home from a Barnsley football match, I noticed the newspaper placards: “PLANE CRASHES IN BARNSLEY”.

Could this be Ivan? I felt sick to my stomach, but when I entered Peel Square I saw his car and trailer – containing the smashed up remains of his flying machine. That told me he’d survived.

What happened next was typical of Ivan Shaw. At lunchtime on the following Monday, I asked him whether he was about to jettison his hobby – after all, crash-landing would certainly have put me off for life.

“Pack in? Me? No way. I’ve identified the problem. I’m going to lag the fuel pipe and create a second pipe just to be safe.”

Some years later, he left teaching to become a professional pilot, and then he decided to design, build and mass produce his very own aircraft. Premises on the Carlton Industrial Estate were turned into a factory and he was on his way to making his fortune.

When I sought him out in 2023, I discovered he was living in Hutton-le-Hole in North Yorkshire, and we started exchanging emails. He invited me and Janet over, one hot June day, and he and Judith, fed, watered and entertained us. It was wonderful talking over old times.

“You’ll have made a bit of money then?” I said, fully expecting him to tell me to mind my own business.

“Can you keep a secret?” he asked, whilst glancing furtively over each shoulder.

“Me? Keep a secret? Of course I can,” I replied expectantly.”

“Well, so can I.” And that was that.

The other day I switched on the TV to find Ivan Shaw being interviewed in the Look North studio. Ivan had been head-hunted as an expert for a documentary series about creativity and invention. So, I phoned him to get to know more.

“The guy making the documentary believes, like me, that inventing and building things have become a lost art. So he wanted to show, for the six-part series, how these activities are not only important, they’re also thrilling.

“When we were kids we had little money, so we would go to the council tip to collect bits of discarded rubbish to construct our own bicycle or trolley or radio. It gave me huge satisfaction and helped me develop emotionally and intellectually.”

I went on to ask him why he was living in Hutton-le-Hole. “This is the village where my mother and father were from. My mother actually grew up in the attached cottage. Many years ago, during hard times, my father was out of work and walked from here to Barnsley searching for a job. Then he and my mother started to live in Barnsley and put down roots.”

I said, “Now I’ve a serious question for you, Ivan. Where would you be today, without my expertise in sanding down your aeroplane all those years ago?”

“Sanding down my...? Can’t remember that, Ron,” he said, looking puzzled.

Oh, the ingratitude!

At almost 80 years old, Ivan is still inventing. He’s just designed and built his latest state-of-the-art aircraft and is looking to mass produce it.

Don’t miss, Masters of Reinvention, U&Yesterday channel, Mondays at 8pm.