When I agreed to join the committee of Upbeat, little did I know that I was required to write an extensive profile of myself. I thought all that was needed was a few lines, but no. It is a bit like Tony Hancock in the famous blood donor scene, a prick on the end of the finger was not enough, I had to give a whole arm full!

I was born a Piscean in 1943. The second, by 20 minutes, of twin boys. We, like many others, were unfortunate to loose our father in the 2nd World War. When our mother re-married it meant a complete change of life style. Instead of having a father who was a quantity surveyor working for Taylor-Woodrow, we became the sons of a dairy farmer on a small farm near Louth in Lincolnshire. School was in Louth, firstly the Junior School, then King Edward V1 Grammar School which dated back to 1551 and claimed among its former pupils Alfred Tennyson and Captain John Smith, famous for forming the first settlement in N America and for having a 'fling' with a certain Indian lady called Pocahontas.

A great deal of the spare time of my brother and I at weekends was spent helping out on the farm mostly doing the dirty jobs like cleaning out the cow sheds and milking parlours and as we got older, getting up at the crack of sparrows (very early) to help milk 70 or 80 Friesian cows when the milkman had his one day a week off. So from a young age, like it or not, I was used to hard work.

I left school in 1959 and joined a bank but I did not particularly enjoy giving money away and being nice to people all the time so in 1962 I left and joined the Meteorological Office. My first posting was to a small, now defunct, airfield, part of Flying Training Command, called Strubby. The aircraft were Meteors, Vampires and Canberra bombers. My first posting overseas was to North Borneo at the time of the Indonesian conflict in 1965. An interesting time and place – ask Michael Gooch! This was followed as a married man by three postings to Germany. The first in 1969 and the last one ending in 1994 by which time I had reached the dizzy heights of forecasting. I was promoted to junior forecaster in 1981 and after training and experience I was posted to RAF Scampton famous as the home of the Dam-Busters. When I was there it was, and after a short break still is, the home of the Red Arrows. This period was probably one of the most interesting periods of my time in the office. Every year on 1st October, the 'Reds' have three new members join and then spend the winter practicing to fly in formation until they are passed fit to fly exhibitions in the following spring. In 1996 after my return from Germany and a short spell at RAF Waddington, I was promoted into management and became senior Met Officer at Wattisham Airfield with the Army Air Corps.

In 2003, after 40 years I was forced to retire, like all other civil servants at that time, at the age of 60. In 2004 I took a part time post with the NHS Ambulance Transport Service. A job I really enjoyed. It was the meeting and being able to help the patients, some of whom were obviously quite poorly. All went well until December 2007, when after a Christmas party and some energetic dancing I had an M.I. or better known as a heart attack which resulted in a stay in Papworth and a triple by-pass. I did my rehab with Kate, Mel et al at WSH from late March and progressed on to Upbeat, my first visit being 19th May 2008. I returned to work with the ambulance service at the beginning of August and remained with the NHS until retiring last December 2010.

Having been in management I always had a reputation of speaking my mind, being slightly bossy and an organizer but I hope I have mellowed with experience in my older age. I do hope during my time on the committee, be it long or short, I will be able to make a useful contribution to a group of friendly, fun people who benefit from the activities of UPBEAT.