Hello and welcome to my Flickr photo stream........

I was born in Chatham, a constituent of the "Medway Towns" conurbation, in the County of Kent, 3 weeks short of Christmas in December 1957.

The family home was adjoining to, but not in, the then new Twydall Estate development on the Gillingham/Rainham (Kent) border. I attended both Twydall Infants and Twydall Junior schools before passing my 11-plus exam and attending The Gillingham Grammar School for Boys . I left there from the "6th General" form, complete with 9 GCE 0-levels. I had chosen not to take my educator's advice and stay on for some A-levels and a subsequent stint at University!

The career path I had intended to take with British Rail as an engineering technician , was frustrated, due to a reversal of BR's recruitment policy that year. I was thrown into a career "no man's land" as it was, by then too late to go back to school for A-level studies!

A brief period was spent "on the road" in a Commer "Walk-Thru" van as a sales assistant for a prominent sausage and cooked meats manufacturer, before a chance spotting of an advert in the "Commercial Motor" trade magazine led to me finding a position in the industry I loved...road transport! At the tender age of 17 I started as a trainee van salesman for a Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle dealership based in Dagenham in Essex. The rest is all too long a story to be told here.........

To my continual surprise, I am now well into my 6th decade on the planet, officially now "of retirement age"! I used to consider that I had lived in a once proud country which was formerly known as GREAT Britain. I struggle with my frustration with the decline of this once great nation and my inability to do anything about it. I am left bemused by the prominence of Political Correctness, the over-zealous implementation of Heath and Safety rules and regulations and the general erosion of the values that were instilled in me by my parents and my schooling. Legislation and social attitudes conspire to eliminate any remaining common sense from the bulk of the populous.

To save myself, from all of this nonsense I had to quit my home country and I now live in the Southern Hemisphere ! Home is now in an English-like town in the beautiful Waipa/Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island.

I continue to be involved in the bus industry, albeit now just as a casual driver for a local charter company..

My overseas travel adventures have been both a partial cure for and contributor to, the frustrations mentioned above.

I have had a variety of jobs related to various modes of transportation , namely.... Commercial Vehicle retailing, road haulage operation ,public service vehicle operations and the railway industry (both freight and passenger) .

As you will see, and hopefully enjoy, I have recorded many images as I have passed through my life and careers. Unfortunately the majority of my photographic archive, intended to be utilised during my retirement, was destroyed in an unfortunate fire in 2014. Indeed some of the early images preserved here on my Flickr ages were amongst them.

Please respect the copyright I have on my images. Thank you.