Guest Book

Ah well,sport,eh? Now there's a story! I went to a very VERY strict boarding school when I passed my 11+ and until I was 16 I represented the school, and the county (Lincolnshire) juniors at cross country. I was very good! Then I rebelled against all the school stood for i.e. Church three times on a Sunday, daily beatings by the older boys, no contact with the outside world etc. (I could write a book) and ran away overnight to Portsmouth; and joined the RN - and as I was only sixteen, I was sent to HMS Ganges for a year. Everyone found it quite harsh, but after boarding school, I found it a doddle. Which brings me on to the reason for this dit. After a while at Ganges, I started receiving duty free cigarettes, and took up smoking in a serious way....and that was the end of running for me.....and then of course at eighteen the tot came along. I'm talking 1958-59 here, and the good old RN did their best to ruin your health. Glad to hear that some resisted, and carried on being sporting!

Hallo my grand old mate Spud, have decided to revisit the Guestbook pages after a wee while away. Firstly, I received your chopper trying to land in a so called "difficult sea" which took me straight back to my days on the Dalrymple on the dreaded Rockall/Malin run up to survey the continental shelf from Bear island to the Bay of Biscay along with Lt Cdr Dick Dodwell, Jesus did it bring back memories, i think I was sick for the first week onboard!! Bloody awful weather and it was in July!!!
Secondly, I never thought for one minute that anyone in the Met Branch would ever mention sport at any level, so it is with great humility that I mention my participation in the sports of the RN.
Here goes:- after I left training I was drafted to Portland (the first ever met rating to go there off course) I then represented Portland at X-Country in the Pompey command cross country chanpionship at Dryad along with George Chilton we were the only two Wafoos who ran against 140 odd fish-heads. Portland finished runners-up to Victory A and I still have the trophy to prove it!!
Portland didn't have an Air Dept football team so instead I represented 737 and then 771 Sqdns and then Portland itself.
On the Ark I played for her at hockey in Singers and also for the Air Dept and 815 Sqdn at football, then at Lee I represented the base at both Football and Rugby plus the Air Dept at football. On to the London where I played football for the ship and also for the Seamens dept!! then to Brawdy where again I played both football and Rugby for the base.
Onto the Albion and played for the Air dept and 848 sqdn at football and also for the Albion plus we (Lt Geoff Roberts, me and Tim Preston took part in the first ever inter ship quiz against the Eagle (which we won 34-26) Geoff scored 17, yours truly got 16 and Tim scored 1)
Then back to Lee to finish off and played for Lee and the Air Dept at football and then I went outside.
Also represented the Fleet Air Arm at Field Gun Crew and the gun crew at both football and cricket.
That's it Spud, I was a sportsman
and still continued playing in civvy street until I was 47 at football, rugby and cricket. seems so long since but the memories and photos, trophies and plaques are still with me.
No-one believed I was Met, they all thought I was a chockhead or a bombhead because as far as "they" were concerned Met men didn't play sport. Even on the Gun Crew I was put down as a NAM!!
great to hear from you Spud,
mebbe we'll now hear how Brooker scored the winning goal in a Wembley cup final, a century at Lords and ran riot in the Met school at both Kete and Culdee!!!
All the best Spud,
Cheers
G.

Well Ken fancy remembering that true I had forgotten that, as I was a Goalkeeper I suppose diving was part of my game, I still have the scars playing for the Birmingham forgot my knee pads, when I figure out my printer I will send you a Photo of me in goal when at Arbroath. made it for the Navy agaist Nato land forces in Italy but only on for a while really to short. loved Cricket.played for local teams after leaving the Navy.
always thought it was a shame sporting facts were never put on your history sheet. Played in Singapore once. after every goal went off for a tiger top to say the least it was a high scoring game.
great memories which brings me back to the wren of us in the school staff I am sure she was MT.

Johnny, don't know about your football prowess but I do remember you and I playing cricket for the Air department at Culdrose and you taking one of the most superb catches I have ever seen at any level of cricket.
I ws bowling, the batsman gave it one hell of a swipe, you were fielding on the boundary, and you took it one handed at full stretch about three feet off the ground!
Given the fact that you could hardly have been called a light weight at that time, it was unbelievable!
Bet you had forgotten that one eh?

I would like echo the comments made by Spud it is quite amazing just how many past Mets they have amassed in my own time in the Navy I think less than twenty have crossed my path. Partly because my course consisted of me and partly because I was with Asweps on more than one occasion.
Whilst at Kete I played football, though I am not sure whether that was during my course or later just before the change, were there other Fleet Air Arm courses at Kete I remember being in a mess where one of the Occupants continuously played music from South Pacific till we hid it.In my early days I was loosely a bit of a Muscle Bosun
resulting in the pains I suffer now.
I started my one man course after Chritsmas and new year 1958/59 and passed out met111 26th jan 1959.
then on Birmingham returning later that year for the changeover to Culdrose, if anyone can remember those periods it would be nice to rejuvenate my little grey matter.
Once again thankyou to the team

2012 Reunion (next week) numbers not meeting expectation (for reasons that can be discussed later).

I want to use this dit to give support to Charlie and his team's efforts over the years for the setting-up , admin, then admin and admin and re-design and redesign to expand capacity, of site (at no cost to us) - all effort to present our popular site which encourages the current banter, encouraging membership (and the possibility of regenerating the old 'banter site' which the Sec has on disc) and to entice more of our un-exposed, undeclared, shy, (all you need-to-do is say you were a MET and press enter) or 'lost and found'
Please join us now - this site will be lost without you.

Given we have a non-fee membership site I'm sending Charlie £10 to support the site - it needs it - I think I have had much more than a tenners value from the site in recent years

JW's current flood of memories are an example of the 'added value'to our lives (Not to mention Ray Brooker's and others very clear memories way back in Jurasic days)(Wish George Blu could be with us more often he is 'shirley' the BOSON PARTICLE to fill in any gaps.

Hope we survive and enjoy the interaction!

I agree with Ken at Admiralty we were in the Heart of of the heart of theatre and club land my first digs were at Pimlico. in Admiralty we never saw our uniform. Ken with his Mod Style and pointy shoes and me with my take on of a Tony Curtis
With watches of 24 on and 72 off, it gave opportunity to fill in our off days I once worked at Cheesemans in Lewisham. London allownce certainly did not cover a good life. I Married a Ex Met Wren
not that she was in long as we were engaged when I was on the MET School staff and she was on a course at Culdrose.Watches were such that you could go out for a meal and drink and come back for a Kip till after the 0300 chart had meen plotted. We also had a run ashore about once a Month. I did spend a very short time at Northwood with Asweps.WHICH WAS NOT EXACTLY FULL OF NIGHT LIFE. which was about the time I went on the USS WASP on a Exercise Boston to the Arctic Circle until flying off Spain arriving back at Admiralty to be sent off to Londonderry on a Exercise. he most popular drink in the local was Merrydown cider. from where I was brought up. some say dragged up. I always found my own Married Quarters.

Frank, what you have to realise is that all of these revelations of boozing with the stars and shady West End restaurants were all part of "the swinging sixties" experience which we all enjoyed courtesy of the First Sea Lord.
Seedy shared flats in Earls Court at £6 per per person per week and expensive beer in West End hostelries meant that everbody needed another source of income, hence the off watch working at Debenhams.
Ah, such happy days, never to return I fear.

OMG I seem to have taken a very sheltered and darkened (miners strike power cuts) life at Northwood in the early '70s unlike earlier past times in Whitehall interested in learning more in case I need to take a career change....

At ChrisHolmes' Debenhams in the West End '64 I was employed at £2 pd off watch to help MR Pratt who had made a pratt of himself and was working off a debt TO THE COMPANY in such late life- He was a very old gent - well over 70 - and he was in charge of the 'returns' - He - We had access to the 'delivery' side of the business as reflected in JW's entry and as an insider i know there was a liberal use of the companies parcel post.
Mr PRATT taught me the tricks of the trade - when garments were returned - the usual thing was a womans coat - "oooh I've only worn this once - it's shrunk or the seam has split!!!!!!

Mr Pratt taught me to ASSESS the fraud and the (very few) genuine malfunctions in a garment - tools were ....

Magnifying glass to determine the 'wear' on the button holes -THEY WERE ALWAYS WORN MORE THAN ONCE THEY WERE LIKE A FORREST UNDER THAT MICROSCOPE - AND THE STRETCH MARKES !

And then the 'stretch' on the buttock and arse lining - which no matter how FEW times it had been worn it showed, in the ironing out the lady had simply historically recorded her activity.

END

I wish I could have added ----------

Madam YOU ARE NOT A SIZE TWELVE - YOPU ARE A COMFORTABLE 14 -= ENJOY AND PLEASE STOP HARASSING YOUR HUSBAND - HE DOES NOT KNOWTHE DIFFERENCE !

This is SPUD .....

ASLEEP _ YET _ WHY NOT !!!!!!

The main commercial and later military code I learned from Debenhams was the established code used by the company to reflect the 'cost-price' of - say a coat, to one of their stores - this information was shown on the price tag on the shop floor in casual writing - it made no sence to the buying public.
All OK if the coat was sold and no problems - but if returned - the company, MR Pratt and ME needed to know that the return was for a genuine reason - then we could propose a 'refund'or otherwise, knowing the original cost price.

The code which represents a run of digits from 1 to 10 is contained within one word - which has no repeated letter - I give you CORNFLAKES as an exapmle - At Debenhams the cost-price code on the lable of a coat being sold lets say in my day for (1966).... say £12 (£11.99) in the shop the lable was td/6 - breakdown of the code - 39/6 (£1 19 and 6)

The Debenham code was METHODICAL ! hence td/6 (39/6)

.YOU ...still awake ..... ??

Me - wonderin'wot that code was called -

RAMROD

APPOLOGIES TO MY READERS - MUCH SEARCHING FOR RAMROD MUCH JOY IN REMEMBERING.

Later in my aviation life in the Andrew I had to rely heavily on RAMROD codes - BUT UNBELIEVABLE THERE ARE THOUSANDS - simple CORNFLAKES eg and etc.