The Author's Family Album

The Author's Family Album

Thank you for showing an interest in my early years, I hope you will find that it was worth the effort.

These pictures were taken between 1953 - the year of my birth - and 1970 when I left my senior school to go on to higher education.

As such you will see me as a baby, as a toddler, as a youth and finally as a teenager.

Most of the photographs are monochrome - such was the prevalent format in those days - and only a few are in colour.

Nevertheless I hope that they will give you an insight into my formative years, and please feel free to goo, giggle and guffaw in whatever proportions you see fit.

If, after wading through this familial photo fest, you decide never visit my site again I shall quite understand - I'll be broken hearted, distraught and totally destroyed....but I will understand!

I was born in April 1953, and this must have been one of the first pictures taken of me. I hadn't learned to snore yet, but I was a dab hand at dribbling - some things don't change.

This is me with my mother, and she is still an attractive woman even now.

Here I am sitting next to my father's bird cage in which there would have been a number of budgerigars. He had quite a collection at one point which whittled down over the years to just one green and yellow bird called Tony.

The original photograph declared this to be my first visit to the seaside in 1953. On the left is my father 'Bert' who unfortunately died of a smoking induced heart attack in August 1980 at the age of 54.

Before the days of cars, traffic jams and congestion charges it was actually possible for a baby to sleep in his/her pram at Finsbury Pavement in London, England. This is me proving that statement in my pram in 1953 - the year I was born.

Another picture of me by the bird cage, obviously leaning back to allow a better picture of the 'budgies'!

Excuse me. What's this strange white thing growing out of my gum? I don't know how fast my parents used to push me in that pram, but as you can see they had the foresight to make me wear a seat belt!

Here with my parents at Sutton Dwellings which was my grandmother's home in Shoreditch, east London, England. We lived with my grandmother until my brother came along in 1958 and then we moved into a place of our own.

My family in Canada sent this snow suit over for me one year.

Now let's get this right. I have to grow up, get a job, worry about paying bills and pay huge taxes. Hmmm, any chance of remaining a smelly, dribbling baby instead?

Sun bathing in Finsbury Park, London, England,1953. I have a similar picture of me in my thirties sun bathing in Abu Dhabi, except in that shot I'm not wearing any booties.

Here with my mother on a pebble strewn beach, no idea where.

Me and parents at Boscombe in Dorset, southern England.

How I got saddled with this ride I shall never know, but I can vaguely remember that it seemed to be a long way off the ground.

On holiday in Hopton on Sea which is near Great Yarmouth on the east coast of England.

Here with my father in Bournemouth, Dorset, southern England. You will notice from this and the other pictures that sand and buckets played a large part in my holiday experiences.

I think this was at a Warners Holiday camp - we used to go to holiday camps in the summer - and I was about to 'follow Auntie Annie to the party' as my parents were oft fond of telling me every time this picture emerged from the family album.

My rendition of a typical sandcastle supervised by my cousin Susan.

I enjoyed donkey rides - much closer to the ground than horses.

I must have had a premonition of the future because this upward stare foretold something of my career, much of which has been spent in aircraft.

Another bucket and sand shot, this time in Bournemouth, Dorset, southern England.

Now you see dad, when I put my finger in the water like this it comes out wet.

Dad, what's that big green thing with the long spiky tentacles?

My father and I being very proud of our latest creation on the beach at Swanage in Dorset, southern England.

My father did his best to teach me to swim but I was never very comfortable in the water and didn't really master the concepts of how not to drown until senior school.

Mum, I've buried dad somewhere round here and now I can't find him!

Oh there you are - in Boscombe, digging a hole with my father. I've spent much of my subsequent life digging holes for myself.

This is me and my cousin Sharon on holiday somewhere or the other.

My parents hired this jeep at one of the holiday camps we visited and evidently I created merry hell when we had to go home and I was forced to leave it behind. So my parents bought me one of my own and I spent many a happy hour being pushed around the grounds of my home by my friends playing a variety of games too numerous to mention. Suffice to say I loved that jeep and still remember my feelings for it to this day.

Driving a jeep and attracting the girls in Boscombe. I've always had a way with the ladies, even from an early age. I came along, they went away!

I think my mother was trying to teach me a three point turn, the problem was I could only count to two.

Right, now let's see. Ignition on, clutch in, hand brake off, then roll uncontrollably down the hill.

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date! I wonder who the flowers were for?

Reading the Topper - a children's comic - on the Isle of Sheppey, north coast of Kent, England. Who could possibly have forecast that forty years later I would be reading the New York Times over the internet?!

Meal times at Butlins Bognor Regis were noisy and interrupted the much more interesting work of seeing how many rides I could go on before I re-acquainted myself with my lunch.

This is me in the grounds of Sutton Dwellings, Shoreditch in the east of London, England in my cowboy outfit showing off on my Gresham Flyer tricycle. Where I am standing in this photograph is now on the outer perimeter of the 'new' roundabaout at the junction of Old Street and City Road alongside the much expanded Old Street underground station.

...and I want a Scalextric set, and a train set, and a new bicycle, and a model aeroplane....and mum, why have you fainted?

Me looking tough in the grounds of Sutton Dwellings. I think I must have been the forerunner of the man with no name - I wasn't very good at remembering it then.

On board a boat, I think in the Norfolk Broads on the east coast of England. On the left is my paternal grandmother - maiden name Ellen Mary Hobden - who died in 1973, and in the middle is my mother.

I can't remember where this was taken, but it looks like I was togged up to go to some children's party or other.

Here I am at Bournemouth in Dorset, a seaside resort on the south coast of England. I'm pretty sure I'm holding a ball in this picture, or else the circus elephants have just passed by and left me a souvenir.

Now I just know that you are not going to believe this, but I actually won a beautiful toddler competition one year. The prize was a small toy car which I kept for years.

Here I am with my mother at the Norfolk Broads on the east side of England.

As you can see from this picture - taken in the bedroom I shared with my brother at Bryant Court, Shoreditch, east London - I was into cuddly toys. The lion I am holding doubled as a pyjama case.

This was taken at Sinah Warren holiday camp on the south coast of England. It was the holiday when I was persuaded to 'tap' my father's brother, Uncle Henry - seated - on the head with a golf putter. My family were amused, my Uncle wasn't!

The above two pictures, and the one below left, were taken in October 1958 while my mother was in hospital giving birth to my brother. Auntie Joan & Uncle Henry - my father's brother - looked after me while my mother was away and had these pictures taken by Derek Smith Studios, 34 Whitmore Road, London N1.

When we were children we used to go away en famille - well three families actually. Here we have the almost definitive collection - cousin Pauline wasn't born yet - at Arundel Castle. Left to right we have me, Susan, Judith, my paternal grandmother (see above), Sharon, Kim, and my brother seated in front.

A school photograph - my, what big teeth you have.

As you can see it wasn't only my parents I drove round the bend - here I am with my cousin Susan.

This is my cousin Kim and I at Butlins holiday camp, Bognor Regis, West Sussex on the south coast of England. I think the toddler is my cousin Pauline but I am not sure.

Here we are, my mother, me and my brother.

As well as my cowboy gear I also had a red indian outfit which, as you can see, is perfect for hanging Christmas decorations. Just call me Big Chief Hanging Bauble!

Mum, can you help me down please, I'm all decorated out.

It seems that as I grew up so my sandcastles grew down. Compare this paltry effort in Bournemouth on the south coast of England with my earlier feats above.

If you look very, and I do mean very carefully at the space between the guard in white and the stripey sentry box you will see me and my brother on holiday in Monaco, South of France in 1967.

This is my father and I standing in front of his 2000 piece jigsaw at our flat in Bryant Court, Shoreditch, east London. Using a combination of sustained effort supplemented by the occasional piece fitting in a spare moment, we took two weeks to complete it.

This is me standing by Mr A.S.A. Willis, the Deputy Head of Laburnum Street Primary School in London. I owe a great deal to Mr Willis as he instigated and supported my application to the City of London School which, in its turn, played a major part in forming the person I became.

Mr Ray, one of the teachers at Laburnum Street Primary, took a small group of us to see the Children's Painting Exhibition at India House, London on 14th March 1964. If my memory serves me correctly, from left to right we have Penny, Olive, Wendy, John and myself.

Here we are again with Mr Ray.

John and myself with Mr Ray.

Here I am with my parents and my brother on holiday in the Isle of Wight, just off the south coast of England.

I went to the City of London School, which is a Public School - English for a traditional private school - located at that time by Blackfriars Bridge, London, England. The school has since moved to the east side of Blackfriars bridge, and only the above façade remains as the front of a modern insurance company building. The motto of the School is the same as the City of London itself - Domine Dirige Nos - which means 'Lord Guide Us' or at exam time 'God Help Us'!

I made the school fencing team and took part in the usual inter-school events plus the Public Schools Fencing Championships. My weapon was the sabre, and I'm in the front row, second from the left.

This was 5B and the form master was Mr (Pat) Whitmore - seated front centre. He was a military man through and through, a great disciplinarian, but always fair and supportive. I am sitting immediately to the right of him. I could still name many of the boys in this photograph but there isn't space here to list them all.

Based on a combination of my form work and 'O' level results I won the 5B form prize. The Lord Mayor of London always gave out the awards on prize day and here is a very slim version of me receiving it. One of the books I chose for my prize was a Thelwell cartoon collection which I noticed was carefully secreted between a dictionary and a book on geology!

After 5B I moved into the Maths VI whose form master was Mr Brearley - seated centre. I am seated immediately to the left of him and apologise for the piled up hair style which I thought was a good idea at the time!

Part of the public school education in my day was the compulsory membership of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF). I joined the RAF section because I was interested in flying and didn't fancy the idea of running around muddy fields or shivering under canvas as the army cadets had to do. I rose up through the ranks and became Flight Sergeant which meant I trained and was in charge of about a dozen cadets. In the left hand photograph you can see us being inspected by a serving RAF officer - that's me behind him, hoping that we are smart enough to pass inspection. In the middle photograph you can see me getting bored with standing to attention in the front row, second from the left, and in the right hand photograph I am again in the front row, third from the left. It was all excellent experience, the flying part was great fun, and before leaving I gained both my RAF advanced proficiency and advanced gliding certificates.

One of the benefits of being in the RAF section was that we did not have to go squelching around muddy fields during the annual CCF Field Day. Instead we lived in nice warm huts, popped off the occasional 303 rifle, flew around the countryside in a variety of fixed and rotating wing aircraft, and clambered over interesting aircraft such as this Vulcan V1 bomber. This picture was taken at RAF Finningley in Yorkshire, England on 4th April 1968. I am standing on the extreme right of the photograph.

And just to round the story off, here I am receiving the Freedom of the City of London at Guildhall in March 2008 which arose from my being an Old Citizen of the School. This gave me a feeling of great personal pride because the City is unique in the world. Where else can you can stand with your back to a Roman wall and look across the road at 20^th century skyscrapers containing 21^st century technology? The City has managed to keep pace with the demands of the modern world whilst retaining an unbroken link with the two millennia of history that created it.



	Thank you for showing an interest in my early years, I hope you will find that it was worth the effort. These pictures were taken between 1953 - the year of my birth - and 1970 when I left my senior school to go on to higher education. As such you will see me as a baby, as a toddler, as a youth and finally as a teenager. Most of the photographs are monochrome - such was the prevalent format in those days - and only a few are in colour. Nevertheless I hope that they will give you an insight into my formative years, and please feel free to goo, giggle and guffaw in whatever proportions you see fit. If, after wading through this familial photo fest, you decide never visit my site again I shall quite understand - I'll be broken hearted, distraught and totally destroyed....but I will understand!


I was born in April 1953, and this must have been one of the first pictures taken of me. I hadn't learned to snore yet, but I was a dab hand at dribbling - some things don't change.	This is me with my mother, and she is still an attractive woman even now.	Here I am sitting next to my father's bird cage in which there would have been a number of budgerigars. He had quite a collection at one point which whittled down over the years to just one green and yellow bird called Tony.

The original photograph declared this to be my first visit to the seaside in 1953. On the left is my father 'Bert' who unfortunately died of a smoking induced heart attack in August 1980 at the age of 54.	Before the days of cars, traffic jams and congestion charges it was actually possible for a baby to sleep in his/her pram at Finsbury Pavement in London, England. This is me proving that statement in my pram in 1953 - the year I was born.	Another picture of me by the bird cage, obviously leaning back to allow a better picture of the 'budgies'!

Excuse me. What's this strange white thing growing out of my gum? I don't know how fast my parents used to push me in that pram, but as you can see they had the foresight to make me wear a seat belt!	Here with my parents at Sutton Dwellings which was my grandmother's home in Shoreditch, east London, England. We lived with my grandmother until my brother came along in 1958 and then we moved into a place of our own.	My family in Canada sent this snow suit over for me one year.

Now let's get this right. I have to grow up, get a job, worry about paying bills and pay huge taxes. Hmmm, any chance of remaining a smelly, dribbling baby instead?	Sun bathing in Finsbury Park, London, England,1953. I have a similar picture of me in my thirties sun bathing in Abu Dhabi, except in that shot I'm not wearing any booties.	Here with my mother on a pebble strewn beach, no idea where.

Me and parents at Boscombe in Dorset, southern England.	How I got saddled with this ride I shall never know, but I can vaguely remember that it seemed to be a long way off the ground.	On holiday in Hopton on Sea which is near Great Yarmouth on the east coast of England.

Here with my father in Bournemouth, Dorset, southern England. You will notice from this and the other pictures that sand and buckets played a large part in my holiday experiences.	I think this was at a Warners Holiday camp - we used to go to holiday camps in the summer - and I was about to 'follow Auntie Annie to the party' as my parents were oft fond of telling me every time this picture emerged from the family album.	My rendition of a typical sandcastle supervised by my cousin Susan.

I enjoyed donkey rides - much closer to the ground than horses.	I must have had a premonition of the future because this upward stare foretold something of my career, much of which has been spent in aircraft.	Another bucket and sand shot, this time in Bournemouth, Dorset, southern England.

Now you see dad, when I put my finger in the water like this it comes out wet.	Dad, what's that big green thing with the long spiky tentacles?	My father and I being very proud of our latest creation on the beach at Swanage in Dorset, southern England.

My father did his best to teach me to swim but I was never very comfortable in the water and didn't really master the concepts of how not to drown until senior school.	Mum, I've buried dad somewhere round here and now I can't find him!	Oh there you are - in Boscombe, digging a hole with my father. I've spent much of my subsequent life digging holes for myself.

This is me and my cousin Sharon on holiday somewhere or the other.	My parents hired this jeep at one of the holiday camps we visited and evidently I created merry hell when we had to go home and I was forced to leave it behind. So my parents bought me one of my own and I spent many a happy hour being pushed around the grounds of my home by my friends playing a variety of games too numerous to mention. Suffice to say I loved that jeep and still remember my feelings for it to this day.

Driving a jeep and attracting the girls in Boscombe. I've always had a way with the ladies, even from an early age. I came along, they went away!	I think my mother was trying to teach me a three point turn, the problem was I could only count to two.	Right, now let's see. Ignition on, clutch in, hand brake off, then roll uncontrollably down the hill.

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date! I wonder who the flowers were for?	Reading the Topper - a children's comic - on the Isle of Sheppey, north coast of Kent, England. Who could possibly have forecast that forty years later I would be reading the New York Times over the internet?!	Meal times at Butlins Bognor Regis were noisy and interrupted the much more interesting work of seeing how many rides I could go on before I re-acquainted myself with my lunch.

This is me in the grounds of Sutton Dwellings, Shoreditch in the east of London, England in my cowboy outfit showing off on my Gresham Flyer tricycle. Where I am standing in this photograph is now on the outer perimeter of the 'new' roundabaout at the junction of Old Street and City Road alongside the much expanded Old Street underground station.

...and I want a Scalextric set, and a train set, and a new bicycle, and a model aeroplane....and mum, why have you fainted?	Me looking tough in the grounds of Sutton Dwellings. I think I must have been the forerunner of the man with no name - I wasn't very good at remembering it then.	On board a boat, I think in the Norfolk Broads on the east coast of England. On the left is my paternal grandmother - maiden name Ellen Mary Hobden - who died in 1973, and in the middle is my mother.

I can't remember where this was taken, but it looks like I was togged up to go to some children's party or other.	Here I am at Bournemouth in Dorset, a seaside resort on the south coast of England. I'm pretty sure I'm holding a ball in this picture, or else the circus elephants have just passed by and left me a souvenir.	Now I just know that you are not going to believe this, but I actually won a beautiful toddler competition one year. The prize was a small toy car which I kept for years.

Here I am with my mother at the Norfolk Broads on the east side of England.	As you can see from this picture - taken in the bedroom I shared with my brother at Bryant Court, Shoreditch, east London - I was into cuddly toys. The lion I am holding doubled as a pyjama case.	This was taken at Sinah Warren holiday camp on the south coast of England. It was the holiday when I was persuaded to 'tap' my father's brother, Uncle Henry - seated - on the head with a golf putter. My family were amused, my Uncle wasn't!

The above two pictures, and the one below left, were taken in October 1958 while my mother was in hospital giving birth to my brother. Auntie Joan & Uncle Henry - my father's brother - looked after me while my mother was away and had these pictures taken by Derek Smith Studios, 34 Whitmore Road, London N1.		When we were children we used to go away en famille - well three families actually. Here we have the almost definitive collection - cousin Pauline wasn't born yet - at Arundel Castle. Left to right we have me, Susan, Judith, my paternal grandmother (see above), Sharon, Kim, and my brother seated in front.

	A school photograph - my, what big teeth you have.	As you can see it wasn't only my parents I drove round the bend - here I am with my cousin Susan.

This is my cousin Kim and I at Butlins holiday camp, Bognor Regis, West Sussex on the south coast of England. I think the toddler is my cousin Pauline but I am not sure.	Here we are, my mother, me and my brother.	As well as my cowboy gear I also had a red indian outfit which, as you can see, is perfect for hanging Christmas decorations. Just call me Big Chief Hanging Bauble!

Mum, can you help me down please, I'm all decorated out.	It seems that as I grew up so my sandcastles grew down. Compare this paltry effort in Bournemouth on the south coast of England with my earlier feats above.	If you look very, and I do mean very carefully at the space between the guard in white and the stripey sentry box you will see me and my brother on holiday in Monaco, South of France in 1967.

This is my father and I standing in front of his 2000 piece jigsaw at our flat in Bryant Court, Shoreditch, east London. Using a combination of sustained effort supplemented by the occasional piece fitting in a spare moment, we took two weeks to complete it.	This is me standing by Mr A.S.A. Willis, the Deputy Head of Laburnum Street Primary School in London. I owe a great deal to Mr Willis as he instigated and supported my application to the City of London School which, in its turn, played a major part in forming the person I became.	Mr Ray, one of the teachers at Laburnum Street Primary, took a small group of us to see the Children's Painting Exhibition at India House, London on 14th March 1964. If my memory serves me correctly, from left to right we have Penny, Olive, Wendy, John and myself.

Here we are again with Mr Ray.	John and myself with Mr Ray.	Here I am with my parents and my brother on holiday in the Isle of Wight, just off the south coast of England.

I went to the City of London School, which is a Public School - English for a traditional private school - located at that time by Blackfriars Bridge, London, England. The school has since moved to the east side of Blackfriars bridge, and only the above façade remains as the front of a modern insurance company building. The motto of the School is the same as the City of London itself - Domine Dirige Nos - which means 'Lord Guide Us' or at exam time 'God Help Us'!	I made the school fencing team and took part in the usual inter-school events plus the Public Schools Fencing Championships. My weapon was the sabre, and I'm in the front row, second from the left.	This was 5B and the form master was Mr (Pat) Whitmore - seated front centre. He was a military man through and through, a great disciplinarian, but always fair and supportive. I am sitting immediately to the right of him. I could still name many of the boys in this photograph but there isn't space here to list them all.

Based on a combination of my form work and 'O' level results I won the 5B form prize. The Lord Mayor of London always gave out the awards on prize day and here is a very slim version of me receiving it. One of the books I chose for my prize was a Thelwell cartoon collection which I noticed was carefully secreted between a dictionary and a book on geology!		After 5B I moved into the Maths VI whose form master was Mr Brearley - seated centre. I am seated immediately to the left of him and apologise for the piled up hair style which I thought was a good idea at the time!

Part of the public school education in my day was the compulsory membership of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF). I joined the RAF section because I was interested in flying and didn't fancy the idea of running around muddy fields or shivering under canvas as the army cadets had to do. I rose up through the ranks and became Flight Sergeant which meant I trained and was in charge of about a dozen cadets. In the left hand photograph you can see us being inspected by a serving RAF officer - that's me behind him, hoping that we are smart enough to pass inspection. In the middle photograph you can see me getting bored with standing to attention in the front row, second from the left, and in the right hand photograph I am again in the front row, third from the left. It was all excellent experience, the flying part was great fun, and before leaving I gained both my RAF advanced proficiency and advanced gliding certificates.

One of the benefits of being in the RAF section was that we did not have to go squelching around muddy fields during the annual CCF Field Day. Instead we lived in nice warm huts, popped off the occasional 303 rifle, flew around the countryside in a variety of fixed and rotating wing aircraft, and clambered over interesting aircraft such as this Vulcan V1 bomber. This picture was taken at RAF Finningley in Yorkshire, England on 4th April 1968. I am standing on the extreme right of the photograph.	And just to round the story off, here I am receiving the Freedom of the City of London at Guildhall in March 2008 which arose from my being an Old Citizen of the School. This gave me a feeling of great personal pride because the City is unique in the world. Where else can you can stand with your back to a Roman wall and look across the road at 20^th century skyscrapers containing 21^st century technology? The City has managed to keep pace with the demands of the modern world whilst retaining an unbroken link with the two millennia of history that created it.