Family

My dad has no brothers or sisters, my mum had one sister and three brothers and along with my grandparents all lived in the north London, Wood Green area.

When I was four we moved to Solihull, West Midlands and also about this time my brother was born. Paul is four years younger than me and I don’t have any other brothers or sisters. Dad had a new job working for an insurance company in Birmingham.

Left to right: brother Paul, step mother Ann, Paul's schoolfriend Chris, dad and me

In 1971 I was off to the navy (see other pages) and in 1976 my brother went to Salford University to study Civil Engineering.

At the end of 1976 my mum became ill with thyroid cancer and this ended up taking her life. By coincidence, a school friend of my brother (Chris) lost his dad at almost the same time.

My dad was now at home alone and reached a low point in his life. He got together with Chris’s mum Ann who was similarly at a very sad time in her life. Things improved, dad moved to Ann’s house. They got married in 1979 and my family home was sold.

That’s still the situation now which is good for my dad but I don’t have a family home and when I see my dad it’s in Ann’s house. I don’t feel comfortable there and as a result see my dad very little.

I have lost contact with my mum’s brothers and sisters and their children. I really should get this sorted out sometime.

My brother finished Uni and progressed his Civil Engineering career at quite a few places round the country and elsewhere in the world. In 1987 he got married, had two children and has now settled in Swindon.