Ex-Pats

cloudobservers get everywhere!!

The French Connection – David Pegg, Jo Collinson, John Whithead and Rosemary Thorpe

Down Under – Australia – Chris Robinson, Dave Strike, Margaret & Terry Johnson, Pam Nicolson, Barbara Wood, Graham Nicholas – Tasmania Pat & Alex Healey – New Zealand Gill Lamprey

Elsewhere in the World – John Woolgar is in Bermuda, Lindis Hoffman and Janet Jaehne in America, Russell Price in Portugal, Catherine Andriani in Italy, Barry Walsh in Saudi, Andrea Adubato in Belgium with Ashley Price and Phillip Charles both still at sea!!!!!


Two ex-Pats from opposite ends of the world meet up in Portsmouth. John Woolgar from Bermuda (he’s the one in the shorts!) and Chris “Jan” Robinson from Australia.
WE’LL MEET AGAIN – Old Friends at the reunion- this is what it is all about – from left to right Faye Robinson, Dorothy Woolgar, Colin Brenchley, Alison Mathieson, Chris “Jan” Robinson, Jean Brenchley on a run ashore in Portsmouth. The photo was taken by John Woolgar, who was laying on his back to get an effective perspective into the shot. How the area has changed – The Keppels Head is now a “Family” Pub! A far cry from 40 years ago when this trio last had a run ashore when their ships were in dry dock!
Graham Nicholas has sent us this picture of his family with his wife Penny together with children Rachael (15) and Tim (10). Graham served in the Met Branch from 1965 to 1971 and then joined the Royal Australian Navy leaving in 1978 as a Leading Seaman (Met).
What a view – Mount Wellington taken from the back of Graham’s house
David Strike – now living in Sydney – It was an historic day when David left the Navy – it was the last day of Rum Tot Issue in 1970!. On leaving he worked in Fleet Street for a short while before landing a job as a diver on the North Sea oil rigs. In 1973 with Sylvia and their two young children the family emigrated to Australia where David took up diving and started a media company. In 1991 he sold out his interests in the media company and began a “new” career writing about diving. This involved a lot of travel and lot of diving – in all of the wonderful locations that abound throughout Asia and the South Pacific. Although David still writes for a number of diving magazines his main interest is in organising an international diving conference held every two years in Sydney. Visit www.diveoztek.com.au
Chris Robinson in Australia – known to many of us and a regular contributor to the guest book.
David Pegg – now living in SW France. David has forwarded this photo taken with his wife Anne and eldest son, Gary. David met his wife whilst on his Met Course at Kete and married in 1959; they have two sons and a daughter. David joined the Navy in 1952 at HMS Ganges and qualified as a Telegraphist, whilst serving at RNAS Ford he changed to the Fleet Air Arm and in October 1957 joined HMS Harrier for the Met Observers course – from there various ships followed, Birmingham, Victorious, Hermes plus shore drafts to Hal Far, Brawdy, Lee-on-Solent, Met School (twice) and Naples with a final draft to Northwood until retirement on 11 December 1976. When David retired from the RN he studied electronics and became area manager for Lincoln Electrics and later formed his own company building steel sectional frames for warehouses, barns etc. He sold his business and took early retirement in 1999. David and Anne have lived in the Dordogne, SW France for nearly six years now.
Ashley Price is still at sea at work on a civilian ship operating mostly out of Norwegian ports.
John Woolgar – lives in Bermuda with his wife Dorothy – a tough posting but someone has to do it!!!
We met at Culdrose in May 1965, 3 days after I arrived there to start my Met training, we remained friends, eventually getting married in September 1966. I stayed in the Wrens for as long as I could but Terry got a posting to Northwood and I could not go as a Wren at the time so I left. Then would you believe it they opened Northwood to Wrens shortly afterwards!

We lived in a flat at Abbotts Langley and I got a job in a bank which was not as interesting as the Wrens. But not to worry we started a family and I had to leave. We moved down to Cornwall in Sept 1968 with a 3 month old child. Terry went away on weather ships and did some time at Culdrose eventually leaving the Navy at the end of his time in December 1968.

In February 1969 we came to Adelaide, South Australia, where Terry applied successfully for a job with the Bureau of Meteorology and following a 3 month course in Melboune we went to live in Woomera, just in time for the birth of our second child. Woomera is interesting, especially for a young thing like me just out from England. To go out for a trip in your car you got directions like “Clock 12 miles and turn left by the pile of rocks and head for the hill in front of you, clock another 3 miles and veer left to a cliff face. No roads or tracks and if you were lucky you found the dried up lake that was salt encrusted. For all that I remember Woomera fondly and we made friends that are dear to us still.

Terry went on another course in Melbourne and became a Technical Officer which meant that he now concentrated on aviation and mainly did forecasts for pilots. By this time we were back in Adelaide and buying our first home. When the children got a little older, I started to study at nightschool and went to teacher training college, starting to teach in 1978, retiring last December 2005. Whilst I was at college Terry, who had also been studying went to University part time and did the Earth Studies course after 6 years finally gaining his BSc in 1980. In 1985 we moved to a 2 acre property and have been there ever since.

We have travelled to the UK many times with side trips to Europe. We had 12 lessons in Italian and ventured into the wilds of Tuscany! Terry likes to work in wood and has built several boats, furniture and garden buildings for me. Now he has rediscovered Blacksmithing and is like a kid with a new toy. He is also heavily into the Cornish Association here and has learnt the Cornish language. As recognition for his language studies he was made a Bard of Cornwall in 2004.

I quilt and embroider and the garden is mine. I love growing vegetables, fruit and raising native plants to grow and give to people. I still play the piano and go back to school as a volunteer. We have 5 grandchildren and have been involved in their lives and have taken the eldest 3 to the snow, Singapore and just recently Queensland to all the theme parks.