Autobiography
A somewhat unspectacular progress through The Morgan Process from 1942 to 1955 was interrupted from 1943 to1946 by a memorable time in Lee-on-Solent. My father was stationed at the Royal Naval Air Station there, HMS Daedalus, where he was a Schoolmaster Lieutenant. My brother, John, and I can clearly remember witnessing the build up of the invasion forces lined along the road in front of our house and the sight of ships and landing craft lying in The Solent in 1944.
After school, I attended Dundee College of Education where I met Margaret Lamb and we were married in Kingskettle in 1967. After college, I embarked on a teaching career of about 30 years, beginning with a baptism of fire in Stobswell J.S. Boys’ School, at that time the seat of learning and other activities of around 900 boys aged between 11 and 16. Moving into the Primary sector I saw service in Dundee, Kirkcudbright, Palnackie, Duns, Milnathort and Perth. For a total of nineteen years I was in promoted posts as either head teacher or depute head.
Before taking early retirement I obtained my PSV Driving Licence and was doing a little bit of holiday and weekend bus driving. The day after I retired from teaching I took up two part-time jobs simultaneously. One was the bus driving, the other was as a forecourt attendant at a local garage where I mended punctures, delivered customers’ cars and was the “tea boy” as well as serving fuel. However, I soon left the forecourt and became a full-time professional bus and coach driver.
For the rest of my working life I travelled the length and breadth of Britain and throughout much of Western Europe. The first time I drove any vehicle abroad was in 1996 when I was co-driver of a coach taking people from Monifieth to Soyaux in France on a town twinning visit. Not bad for someone who had never been abroad until he was aged fifty-five. I finally retired from “the buses” at the age of 71.
Moving on. As a long time member of Kinross Camera Club and finding that my entries were not gaining prizes, I thought I’d do something different. For the past few years I have been producing computer generated images from digital photographs of everyday objects and simple nature shots. A well-known software program allows me to distort the pictures in many ways until I have what I feel is a pleasing result. The created images are printed, mounted, framed and stored ready to hang at exhibitions.
We have two daughters, Ruth and Laura. Laura and her Dutch husband, Piet produced our first grandchild, Nico, in 2010, who is a joy to his somewhat elderly Granny and Grandad.
Scotlandwell, Kinrosshire, April, 2011
|
|
