If at first you don’t succeed, use a BIGGER hammer! A Potted Biography Born 1958 in Dover, Kent. I attended St. Andrews C of E Primary School until it closed in 1968 and Barton Road Primary School. From there I went to Astor Secondary School before spending a year at South Kent College doing a Certificate in Office Studies. I then joined the Royal Navy, via H.M.S. Ganges, as a Writer in November 1975 and got myself posted to the staff of Flag Officer Plymouth the following year. My first seagoing job was aboard the county class guided missile destroyer HMS FIFE. Then followed a lengthy spell of service ashore in various posts including the pay office in HMS Pembroke at Chatham and doing the public relations bit in recruiting offices in Chatham and Canterbury before going back to a "proper" job in the drafting and records office at HMS Centurion in Gosport Married in 1980 to Sue, and then posted abroad to the NATO staff of Allied Forces Southern Europe in Naples, Italy where our twin daughters Kate and Michelle were born in 1982. We returned home to England in 1983 and I was posted to the Reserve Ships Advisory Group in Portsmouth dockyard. After a three-year spell in the submarine service I decided to move into the Communications Technician branch but failed the course at HMS Mercury as I couldn't quite achieve the very high standard required in reading Morse Code (25+ wpm) having hit my personal ceiling of around 22 wpm. A couple of years ashore back at HMS Centurion in Gosport toting a loaded rifle instead of doing the job I was paid for tipped the scales and I left the RN after 15 years service and returned home to Dover in 1991. After a few false starts, such as telesales for Hoverspeed, I took and passed my HGV class 1 and ended up driving a truck for a living and now work as a self-employed sub-contractor for a Dutch haulage company shipping into and out of the UK. Based in Dover, this suits me just fine and I am home most nights - which is more than can be said for the majority in this somewhat antisocial profession. My interests include computers - web design and programming, science fiction and science & technology in general, motorcycling, photography, music (classical mainly, and I can get a tune out of an accordion) and, of course, Crabble Corn Mill; so I suppose you could say I have an interest in local history too. What with designing and maintaining websites for other people, encouraging advanced motorcycle riding on a voluntary basis and working for a living I wonder sometimes if there are enough hours in the day!! Philip West at Age 50 The hair and teeth are still all mine as, for the moment, is a shiny, blue Honda ST1300 Pan European! Made with Xara Web Designer