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My Life part 3

Yes this was the start of my first big adventure 11 years old and leaving home to go to Brown Rigg Boarding School at Bellingham to be honest I was both excited and scared at the same time as this would be the first time I had been away from home for more than just a few days but excited to see what all the fuss was about with this school I was soon to find out. Within 2 days of arriving I was put into detention for trying to hit some one with a rock as they were running away from me however in my defense the other kid was bigger than me but he pushed the wrong buttons and I lost it if  he had stayed near me I would have just thumped him with my fists  but he chose to run so I threw a rock at him, detention here was a lot different from most schools as it actually took place on nights when other activities were planned for example friday night was film night but the worst was if you were in detention on saturday nights as this was dance/disco night one of the only times you did not get into trouble for trying to chat the girls up, oops I forgot to mention it was a mixed boarding school the girls and boys dormitories were seperated by a large grassy area. This being the case it was not long before I had my first real girlfriend with all the kissing and cuddling, after lessons had finished there was other activities to do these were canoeing,swimming,cross country walks and others the one I enjoyed quite a lot was working on the small farm that school had were we kept hens,pigs,calves and some horses you were allowed into Bellingham during the week and on saturdays every sunday though we had to go to church and the year staff made sure you had some coppers for the collection plate, me and a few others tried to check the different churches out to see which one held the shortest service unfortunately we got caught and made to go to our proper churches.After church on sundays came a treat most of us with some sense did not look forward to and that was the sunday hike we must have covered every blade of grass between Bellingham and Otterburn plus Reedsdale during the 5 terms I spent their but I thoroughly enjoyed it as it taught us self discipline amongst other things. It was a good time in my life and it was there that I learned I had a knack for making things with my hands and also my love of photography unfortunately none of my photos from this early point in my life survived my knack of losing things like I said after 5 terms I decided I had had enough so I left there and came back home and started a new chapter of my life at the local schools.

My Life part 2

So where was I ah yes I was 5 years old and had started school which was good fun and unlike nowadays where the kids get dropped off at school I used to walk the half mile there and back my myself calling in at various peoples houses on the way home to see what goodies they had been baking, then after getting home doing homework and getting changed it was time to get outside and enjoy myself before tea one time me and my middle brother Leslie were playing and exploring where they had pulled some old houses down and we came across a mouses nest and being the age we were we thought the babies had been abandoned so wor kid put them in his jeans pocket and we went home as we got near the front door me mam came to the front door and as soon as she saw him wor Les went red and me mam said "what have you been upto"" nothing" came the reply what have you got in your pockets again nothing so she put her hand in his pocket and shrieked you little devil take them back immediately and wor Les but mam they were all by themselves at this she turned him round and marched us both back to where we had found them and made him put them back, this was only one of the things many a time when she was cleaning our bedroom she would find birds with broken wings that we were looking after hidden behind the wardrobe. Those were the days I had my first crush on a girl well not really a girl but one of the young female teachers at school I was broken hearted when she left to get married however it was not long before a young girl more my age took my fancy, you know what it is like at that age a different girlfriend every other week but the still were not allowed to come down the dene and play on the rope swings we used to string up, we also used to build little camps most of the time these were just lumps of wood and boards pulled into a clumb of bushes to form the walls it was great fun. The first real change to my life came when I was about eleven both my brothers had went to Brown Rigg Boarding School so I decided that I wanted to go as well it was weird because before I could go I had to have an interview with people from the school and local education lot needless to say I surprised myself and my mother by passing the interview and being accepted for Brown Rigg and that is were my blog will pick up.

My Life

I was born in 1958 the youngest of three brothers my father although blind was at the time a basket maker by trade and also a talented piano player who because of the charity work he performed was awarded a M.B.E. in 1996. My life began in a terraced house in Seaton Delaval were I lived for 7 years till we moved half a mile down the road to Holywell during these times me and my brothers used to spend most of our time outside playing no matter the weather one of our favourite but now I look back on dangerous games used to be to climb on the wash house roofs and jump from one to the other many the time I went home covered in cuts and scratches from when I just had not jumped far enough or someone shouted just as I was about to jump. We also regularly walked down to the beach at Seaton Sluice or go down the local dene and make swings across the burn these were good times as on your way home from school you could just walk into peoples houses and see what they had been upto I also learned who baked or cooked different things on different days so by the time I got home I was always to full for my tea, the main regret is that is what community life was like there is no way you could ever do that now more's the pity. At the age of four I started my education at Holywell First School which is still open at the moment I was at the best what you would call an average student but I also had a knack which the teachers could not believe and that was staring out of the window and when they caught me and asked what they had been saying I could repeat it to them, the worst part of my young school life was when they kept trying to get me to write with my right hand when I am left handed no matter how or what they tried as soon as my pencil got near the paper I would swap to my left hand back then if you were left handed they tended to think you were slow but I proved them wrong by being one of the quickest learners in my age group.

That is enough for now will continue my rather boring life later.

I am Back

Hi everyone sorry have not been updating my blog regularly but have been having both personal and computer problems to deal with however I am back now and hope to keep my blog updated regularly. Well so far this year it has been a completely mixed bag of weather lets hope it gets it self sorted out and we have a good summer or at least more sunny days than rainy ones.Here are a couple of photos I have managed to get that I am proud of.

Sorry for being lazy

Well to any one who reads this I am sorry for being to lazy to keep updating my blog some of this is down to medication and ill health but the majority is just down to good old fashioned laziness I keep saying yes I must update my blog then its a case of I'll do it tomorrow which when that comes around its definitely tomorrow and so it goes on but I finally managed to find my way back here so as a thank you to anyone who still checks here is one of my favourite photos that I have taken recently