On leaving the Grammar school I began a technical apprenticeship with the Dowty Group in Cheltenham that was the beginning of my career in engineering. The apprenticeship involved spending time in various departments and led me to finish as a design draughtsman on completion of my apprenticeship.
An opportunity to move to Telehoist followed in my late twenties where I spent over twenty happy years finishing as Chief Engineer in the early nineties when the company eventually closed.
Staying in the hydraulic design industry, I then went to work at Boss fork lift trucks for a short time. I completed my working days back in Cheltenham at Ultronics, an offshoot of a Dowty company developing an electronically controlled hydraulic valve eventually retiring at the age of sixty five in 2007.
I was married for a short time that sadly finished in divorce and I continue to live on my own in Cheltenham.
I was lucky enough to be invited to join a group on a skiing holiday in my late twenties, and that gave me a love of the mountains and I have been skiing every year since, hopefully this activity will continue into my eighties.
A welcome free lift pass from a number of French ski resorts on reaching the age of seventy five does help to make skiing in France more attractive, this gift not being available in Austria, Switzerland or Italy.
Many years of playing squash eventually led me to golf when the wear and tear on the joints began to tell me it was time to stop. I still enjoy golf on Cleeve Hill where I was invited to be club captain, a very enjoyable experience.
More recently, at the age of seventy four, I have started to enjoy mountain biking on an electric bike, a great way to discover places that are only normally accessibly on foot, the Cotswold providing some splendid scenery to enjoy. The e-bike allows the older generation to keep pace with fellow riders half their age getting exercise and enjoyment at the same time.
I have been fortunate that I keep in good health and having been a member of a keep fit group for over forty years with a keen interest in gardening and DIY I keep reasonably fit.