In January 1947, my family exchanged the coal of South Wales for the stone of Purbeck. It was a marvellous move in geography and put me into a smaller and better school. It also changed me from a passion for rugby, music and mountains to what seems to   have been a more natural affinity for football, writing and boats - all of which SGS encouraged me to develop and all of which have stood me in super professional and recreational stead since. From the viewpoint of "now", it would be impossible to speak too highly of the social attitudes and work disciplines - and the amount of knowledge - which the staff of that time managed to get into a sometimes reluctant pupil. The Spring Festival was also a great builder of character and discoverer of unknown talents. After SGS, I followed David Saville into the RN Russian Language Dept and then went into a career spanning time as a Lecturer at St Luke's College Exeter, then teaching, but in all those years in Academia, I never met staff as talented as those who taught me. Eventually, I became very disillusioned with the fact that teaching was like entering a boxing match with both hands tied behind your back, so I quit to become a magazine feature writer - which is what I still do for a living by freelancing under contract to a stable of marine magazines like Practical Boat Owner, Fishing News etc and have been editor of Business Opportunities Digest since 1982.  Luckily, modern communications means that we can work from our home and office on Lyme Regis seafront for the Winter, then load the whole shooting match onto the boat and trek down the French canals and the sun of The Med for the Summer. If you would like to see a picture of our floating office and read some real derring-do (!!) it appears on the website of Practical Boat Owner at www.pbo.co.uk where you can even join a forum to tell the world your thoughts. Both Annie Oakley and Bob Loveless would be pleased to know how much they made this easier for me and Pres Sellick's ingenious mathematical short cuts are still an essential part of my navigation. Anybody who writes for a living can only do it better for knowing Jock Lindsay, about whose infectious enthusiasm and tendency to produce memorable anecdotes, I could write a whole book. Meeting that bird on the left was certainly an auspicious omen for me - and for many others!   I only discovered SGSA a couple of months ago but I have already made a number of nostalgic contacts. If I have missed anybody who would like to touch base, I can be reached on colin@abemama.demon.co.uk  Above are a couple of old and rather tatty photos taken at SGS during my time.