Allan's Page

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I was born and raised in Carshalton in Surrey, then went to Bristol University. There I studied Electrical Engineering courtesy of the GPO who paid my fees and gave me a job in London once I'd got my degree. I worked as a Chartered Engineer for the GPO, PO and BT until 2003 when I persuaded them to let me take early retirement. Now I can take the time to enjoy life.

I started boating at an early age but didn't get serious about it until I was 8 years old when I learned to sail. After various trips on the coast, the Norfolk Broads, and the River Shannon, I discovered the canals in the late 1960's and have been passionate about them ever since. We even spent most of our honeymoon on a hire-boat (in the drought of 1976). Have a look at my canal pages to read about some of my exploits on the canals, mainly on my 67-ft narrow boat "Keeping Up".

My other hobby throughout most of my life was Amateur Radio. Holding the callsign G3XJO, I used to be a keen morse-code operator. It was on a radio competition on the Berwyn mountains that I met my wife Debbie, but eventually the constraints of family life meant that I could not find the time to be a radio operator and I gave it up about 15 years ago.

Debbie and I have lived in the Leighton Buzzard and Milton Keynes area for most of our 40+ years of married life. Our two children have grown up and left home; Frodo lives with his wife Galadriel and their two children in Lothlorien, and Vicki lives near Peterborough with her husband Paul and our grand-daughter Lauren. Have a look at our Family pages for more details and pictures of them - as well as our dog Jessop of course.

We have spent most of our holidays on the canals, but once the children grew up we managed to venture further afield, the particular highlights being the Norwegian Fjords, the Gota Canal in Sweden, the American North-east, across Europe by Rhine and Danube, the Alaskan Coast, Russia, and Antarctica. For highlights and pictures from these and other far-flung locations, see our Holiday pages.

 

 

 
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