About the contributor

I was born on September 5th 1948 at Drayton Hall just outside of Norwich, part of the baby boom that happened after the end of the 2nd World War. My farther (Cyril Arthur Aldous) came out of the army in 1945 and married my mother (Gladys Rose Ryan) in 1946, just after that my brother was born. We lived at 203 Queens Road in Norwich and when I was 4 years old we moved to 11 Argyle Street, were I grew up. My farther worked at Laurence and Scotts, my mother worked at Caleys . At the age of seven I had a coal round to urn my pocket money I collected coal for most of our row of houses every Saturday morning till I was eleven, my brother and I went to the infants and junior schools in horns lane but after failing the eleven plus exams we both went to the senior school at Lakenham. We moved up to holls lane just off hall road and it was there that I was to start my working life. I left school at fifteen and worked on a building site as a plasterers labourer, my next job took me into floor laying when this fell through I ended up working with my farther who by this time had learnt to become a plumber and heating fitter. The year was 1963 and I was getting involved with rock and roll. My brother had left home to join the army as a military policeman, as for me I joined the local bikers club and became a rocker. With the many conflicts we had between the mods and rockers of this period, it was not long before I was to fall fowl of the law. My farther made it very clear to me that he would not put up with this sort of behaviour and gave me an choice leave home or join the Army, Navy or RAF. When we lived at Argyle Street, we were close to the river Wensum that runs through Norwich. Norwich in the 1960`s was a very busy shipping port and I was always wondering what life was like for the seamen who worked these costal ships. So I chose to go into the Merchant Navy and in October 1965 I found my self at the Sea Training school Vindicatrix at Sharpness in Gloucestershire. After 14 weeks of sea school I became a deck boy and on the 12 January 1966 saw me take my first trip to sea on the MV Suevic bound for Australia. I was to visit most parts of the world in my job as a seaman and from starting off at the very bottom I reached my goal in just 4 years and that was to become an Able Seaman. 1968 saw me on a Shell Tanker supplying the Americans with JP4 fuel for the fighter aircraft and helicopter gun ships.I was to meet my wife Linda in 1967 she was the sister of a close ship mate, We got married in 1970 when I was to leave the sea and just one year later my first daughter Jackie was born. We set up home in Norwich and I took a job as a trainee fork lift driver at the Clover Can factory. This was the time I became interested in road transport. The loading and unloading of the many lorries that came to our factory got me thinking that a lorry is the closest thing to a ship on dry land, and at the age of twenty one I passed my HGV class one driving test. In the years that followed, I had many driving jobs and drove all kinds of trucks. Through the years of long distance driving saw me having a brief spell in the Royal core of Transport stationed at Aldershot, my wife loosing our twin daughters, the birth of Raelin our second daughter and in happier times living in the villages of Watton, Thompson, and Attlebourugh. Working away from home and not seeing my children grow up took its toll on our marriage we got divorced but always managed to keep in touch. In 1990 I became disillusioned by lorry driving and turned once again to the sea. In December of that year found me training at the Maritime centre in the college at Lowestoft. I was to be working on the Oil Rig Standby Boats part of the North Sea Rescue. I was to become coxswain of a fast rescue craft and was trained in fire fighting and first aid. I became ships bosun and in charge of several deck hands. In 1997 I was to switch on to the Oil Rig supply ships working 5 weeks on and 5 off. In 1998 after my wife Linda and I had been living back together we got re-married and remained living in Norwich. I finished with the sea in the year 2000 and went back to long distance lorry driving, both my daughters have family and we have several grand children, my youngest daughter Raelin was also in the army and is now married to Dave an army man himself. I suffer now with Osteo Arthrits which is in every joint of my body. I am medically retired now but still manage to keep working around the house and garden. I write stories for the 24 hour online web site, basically about my life and how we lived back in the 1950`s and 60`s I have several stories that can be found on the Norwich site under local history