I've written a Web Page Tutorial to help you if you want to construct your own basic page, containing some useful links to resources, graphics, FTP programmes, Web editors and so on. Just click here to jump to the Tutorial. I hope that you find it useful - I wrote it to simplify making this sort of page!

My father had spent 22 years in the Army, leaving just after World War Two as a Warrant Officer, Class One and having gained the M.B.E. (Member of the British Empire Medal). On the day I was born, he started work on the local public transport system, where he remained until he retired.

I have one older sister, June, who lives in Little Bookham, Surrey, UK, with her husband Edwin. I attended Gosport Grammar schools, but I left school to begin work in a local transport firm to bring some money into the house, as my father had been taken seriously ill with tuberculosis. In those days, not only were welfare benefits much less widespread than now, but my mother would not even have applied for any at the time, looking upon it as an un-necessary charity.

I cycled the six miles each way to work and ran the office of a general haulier. I learned to drive in their yard, one rainy day, as a large truck had been left in the open with goods aboard that should not have got wet. I didn't hit anything and the cargo stayed dry, but more by luck than judgement!

As soon as I reached 16 years of age, I began my involvement with engines, first of all on a 50cc motorcycle. I soon progressed, as age allowed, to larger motorcycles (I had 13 in all), then onto cars as and when I could afford them. During this time, I worked as a Production Controller in a furniture factory, then as a mechanic in a large Portsmouth dealership. It was this entry into the motor trade that led to my re-locating to Rye (one of the Cinque Ports in the south-east corner of East Sussex), to work in a small family-run garage in the nearby Winchelsea - Britain's smallest town with its own Mayor, as it was then.

My lodgings for this job were, thankfully, opposite a house in which there lived a very attractive young lady - Jean - who became my wife on the 15th. July, 1967. We bought our first house - part of a Georgian crescent in the town - and started married life with very little money or possessions. We both worked hard, I changed jobs and became a "Jack-of-all-trades" in a company that made children's soft toys, but I was soon lured away by higher wages, when we discovered that another mouth to feed was on the way. This time, my employer ran a fleet of huge trucks and I was off on my first jaunt as a long-distance lorry driver.

Our daughter, Julia, was born on the 18th. May, 1970. I arrived at the Hospital smothered in brick dust, having been hauling bricks from Bedfordshire to Hastings. I returned to the motor trade in order to try and prevent the absences from home, but the better wage soon saw me driving maximum length articulated vehicles ("semi-trailers") once more. Then, one day, as I was returning to the depot, I saw a man that I recognised as a former driver, Roger. He was wearing a Police uniform, which made it fairly obvious why I had not seen him in the usual haunts for some time! We spoke later about the career change he had made and I began to realise that I had a decision to make, as I was 29 years old by then and police recruiting stopped at 30 years of age in those days (with some ex-service exceptions).

I applied, was accepted, appointed, trained and posted to Hastings, so it was back to the small motorcycle (90cc this time) as the cost-effective way of getting to and from the Police Station. I had taken quite a cut in salary, but it wasn't long before my estimate (that I would soon exceed my former wage) came true, helped more than a little by the Government of the day.

Jean has been an absolutely wonderful partner through both good and bad times and was almost entirely responsible for our daughter's early upbringing, as I was either working difficult hours, or working away from home.

Seeing that former driver wearing his Police uniform changed my life for ever. Roger was a member of a Resettlement Seminar that I ran and I was able to thank him, once again, for setting me off along a path I shall never, ever, regret having taken.

I'm now retired from full-time employment, but served 30 years with the Sussex Police, retiring as an Inspector, based at their Headquarters in Lewes, East Sussex. I was appointed on December 30th. 1974.

Like everyone else, I started as a Constable. I attended 10 weeks' basic training at one of the Regional Training Centres in the country, then I started "on the beat" at Hastings, in East Sussex. After being shown round by an experienced PC, I was then set loose on the great British public!

Most of a newly-appointed Constable's work is fairly predictable, but - just now and then - something really unusual comes along to deal with. After a few months, I was sent on a driving course, which enabled me to be posted to Rye, the town in which I then lived. The biggest surprise for me then was how little I knew my own town, compared with the knowledge I needed to acquire to walk around it with a policing perspective.

I was still undergoing regular training sessions throughout my first two years, although towards the end of that time I worked for a period on CID (under assessment), to examine my potential as a Detective. This all came to fruition when, shortly afterwards, I was posted as a Detective to Crowborough, also in East Sussex, where I still live.

This was a brilliant posting in many ways. Firstly, I worked with a really experienced and clever Detective Sergeant. Secondly, the "patch" included many high-value properties, so we were always busy catching burglars. Thirdly, it's a lovely place to live, being the highest altitude in the whole County of Sussex. When we get the sun, we get it before everyone else. The same applies to the snow, of course!

With just over five years' service, I was promoted to Police Sergeant and I returned to my Regional Training School, this time as an Instructor. These were very interesting and satisfying times, transforming keen young people into Patrol Constables. Most of the recruits I've trained are still in the job and a few hold higher rank than I do. It's good to know that I've helped to set them off on their careers.

I returned from the Regional Training Centre to work at East Grinstead, in West Sussex, as a Patrol Sergeant, then - on the eleventh anniversary of my appointment - I was promoted to Police Inspector and posted to Crawley, also in West Sussex, where I had a very lively and very busy 18 months, running a section of around twenty Constables and three Sergeants. I was then asked to return to the Regional Training School, this time as a Course Commander. During this secondment, I set up what was then called the "Resource Centre" - the knowledge hub for both staff and students alike.

This time, upon return from the Regional Training School, I was posted to Police Headquarters, in the Planning and Logistics Branch, which dealt mainly with VIPs and other security issues. I moved over to the Training Branch when my predecessor was asked to take on a different role.

Recruit training changed out of all recognition from what it was when I joined, although I confidently expect every officer to say that, once they've served for about 20 years, whenever that happens to be. It's a job that is subject to constant change, so the training needs to change too, in order to reflect current issues.

I ran the Sussex Police Driving School, managed Staff Safety training, was responsible for First Aid and other training and I also ran Seminars for officers approaching retirement.

That was the exciting part - the job never stayed the same, so how could anyone possibly get bored with it?

My main interest now is woodworking. I have an excellent table saw, for which I've built a mobile base to enlarge its ripping capacity. Other woodworking tools I now have include a dedicated morticer, a Leigh dovetail jig with a complete set of templates (including Isoloc™ and finger joints), a Tormek sharpening system, four routers (an old ¼" Elu, a Trend and two beautiful ½" Tritons - one 3¼ HP, the other 2¼ HP), a Lamello biscuit jointer, a Makita 150mm random orbital sander, a Makita professional (metal bodied) jigsaw, a Skil circular saw, a huge Jet 20" bandsaw, a Makita LS1013 sliding compound mitre saw, a Jet floor-standing drill press, a Jet oscillating bobbin sander, a 90 litre 2.5hp 142psi compressor, an air-driven brad nailer, De Vilbis spraying equipment and a large Hegner 40" woodworking lathe. 24 Bessey clamps are a real prized possession - they really are the best for a number of reasons and I just couldn't do without them.

Another hobby is computing of all types, which I've been doing since late 1989. I started with an "IBM compatible" 386SX PC, with a "huge" 47Mb hard drive that I thought then would last me my lifetime! My current machine is a fast AMD Quad-core 2,500Mhz with two 500GB SATA drives and 4 GB of RAM, two DVD/CD ROM burners (one LightScribe), a quick colour flatbed scanner, ADSL (broadband) for e-mail and Internet use, an NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT graphics card, ten USB2 ports (four more on the NEC MultiSync 90GX Pro monitor) and two colour printers - one general, one photographic.

There's not much I haven't tried to do with a computer and software, including editing video digitally, in real time, but it's still lots of fun as well as still being a challenge occasionally. Passing on what I've learned is good too. Jean now has her own computer, networked to mine through a Broadband NAT Router. Jean just loves the broadband access to the Internet and makes much use of it. A combined Brother scanner, copier and printer and a 5Mp Pentax digital camera completes her setup.

I enjoy hearing about new "tips and tricks" with software, so if you've got one, please drop me a line to

Another interest is photography. I take stills on both print and slide film, video in any format (and I've shot in all of them) and most recently, digital camera work. For conventional film I use a Pentax Z1 35mm SLR, which is heavy, but very, very controllable. With a large Metz hammerhead flashgun, virtually anything's in range, too - the only problem I have is in carrying it when it's fully assembled! A Nikon CoolPix 4300 deals with digital snapshots and a 10.2 megapixel Pentax K10D shoots RAW and .jpg images.

I have taken some good photographs by taking a chance with light and exposure, but that seems legitimate enough to me. I've yet to find a really practical book on the subject, though - perhaps you've found one? I'd like to know if you have!

One of my most regular pleasures is driving, in spite of the ever-increasing congestion we have to suffer, particularly in the South-East of England, M.25 Motorway, etc. I used to drive a Mitsubishi Galant GTi Four-Wheel-Drive Four-Wheel-Steer hatchback, which was extremely difficult to unstick! I had the car for six years and - apart from a better sound system - no "extras" were necessary. I now drive an Octavia Elegance with ALL the toys and a Ford Transit Connect LWB van for my woodworking.

Whilst I used to do a lot of coarse fishing, I have now given up carrying around a trunk-full of gear in favour of fishing only for trout. Not only is the equipment minimal, but you get to eat the catch, which seems better than putting a stressed and exhausted fish back into the water, only for it to have to undergo the whole process again.

One thing is for certain - Jean and I fully expect and intend to thoroughly enjoy ourselves!