The family bought the Moorlands Hotel to renovate and run as a going concern. It has been closed for a while, but they manage to do it up again and their first Easter they were fully booked. Lawrence was still at school during this time, but Gary was fully employed as hotel manager, cook, electrician, cleaner and gardener. In his spare time he attended college to try and get some City & Guilds exams, driving his beloved mini van acoss the moors. With the help of his Dad he learned to strip down every part of the mini and put it together again. He also volunteer as a fireman at the local station just down the hill, and when he left the hotel he went on to work full-time as a fireman in Bristol. During the time at the hotel Gary started going out with one of the local girls, Carol Evans, who came to work as a chambermaid. When they had to sell the hotel in October 1975 Gary and Carol moved to live with Carol's older sister Celia and her husband Steve in Bristol.