Description:Geoff Monkman is pictured at the Post Office Training Centre where he was the Hostel Manager. He managed a small army of catering staff and housekeeping staff for the student accommodation. The Catering Manager and the Head Housekeeper would have reported to Geoff. The student buildings were built in stages around 1969 and eventually there were over 1000 student bedrooms. This photograph was taken by Stafford photographer Tony Boydon.
The General Post Office Engineering Department, Central Training School opened in Yarnfield in 1946. It occupied buildings at Howard Hall, Duncan Hall and Beatty Hall (all named after Royal Navy Admirals) which had all acted as transit camps for United States Air Force personnel during the Second World War. In 1984 G.P.O. Telephones became British Telecom (later known as BT). The Training Centre had a further change of name in 2002 when it became part of Accenture; BT remained the centre's main customer until around 2010 after which it became a commercial conference and training centre making it one of the largest in the UK. The privately owned centre is currently (November 2016) known as Yarnfield Park Training and Conference Centre.