I was born in Wales into a forces family and spent a lot of my early years living in different places including Gibraltar,Malta and the costa del England.I loved Malta and some of my best childhood memories are from the two years that we lived there.My school there was a royal naval school based in an old medieval fort called Verdala.The whole island is a veritable treasure trove of the historic, even out swimming you could find old muscket balls or brass cannon shells on the sea bed, a lot to be said for snorkeling !We left in 1972 when the Maltese decided the British were persona non-grata !And that was exciting, even one of our school buses got rammed during the elections !Don Mintoff came to power and wanted the Brits out.
This was an incredible place for a young child to go to go to school,full of medieval and second world war history.I will always remember traveling to the school on old 1950's buses and the view as we approached the main entry gate.The main school buildings were enclosed by battlements,how cool is that !The only downside was the sports field was limestone and gravel,so it was a bit hairy when we played football during the P.E. lessons !The good side i guess is that it was my first introduction to gravel rash,which came in useful in later years on the bikes !! Click the pic !
Myspace Layouts
We ended up settling in Gloucester.Finished off my schooling here.Got into bikes about16 years old,passed my test at 17,Just before my 18 birthday i joined the Royal Air Force and did just short of 9 years.A great experience for a lad with itchy feet.Worked with the C130 Hercules and got all round the globe.You get to see places you would never otherwise have a hope in hells chance of seeing and no,that does not mean because we bombed them !