1977

A jubilee-tastic year! We had a school pageant in which all year 5 pupils had to dress up as a king or a queen. We had no choice in the matter but were allocated characters - I was Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, and I remember I had very scratchy trousers.

I left primary school and went to Cheltenham Grammar School with my friend Michael Richardson which was a very scary experience. Not just being among all those big boys but also the journey to school - past a horrible common secondary modern called Monkscroft (or Monkeys' Loft as we so drolly called it - no wonder they always beat us up).

I was into ABBA by this stage, which was perhaps an unwise move in the year of Punk.

CCTA's production this year was The Wizard of Oz and yet again I was gutted to be given the minor rôle of Joe the farm hand, especially when I found out that, unlike in the film, Joe doesn't become one of Dorothy's travel buddies in the land of Oz.

1976

I became a prefect at school (Cotswold House). We had to sit at the front of the school, either side of Mr Talbot the Headmaster, during assembly. We had to set an example to the school during prayers by closing our eyes and pressing our palms against each other. Mr Talbot used to accompany the hymns sometimes in a sort of boogie-woogie stylee. He was also a mean jazz recorder player, and would improvise on hymn tunes if someone else was playing the piano. On reflection it was quite bizzare.

CCTA's summer production was Where the Rainbow Ends (plot: A group of children find a magic carpet and set out to save their shipwrecked parents from a dragon). I was most put out after the previous year's starring rôle that I had to play a subsidiary part that only appeared in the first act! It was a rubbish play anyway.

1975

My big dramatic break-through. I joined Cheltenham Children's Theatre Association after having seen the previous year's production of Peter Pan. I was very nervous of appearing on stage, and I had this idea that I could sing the part from the wings, whilst my best friend James Harper acted and mimed the part on stage. unfortunately the producers didn't think that was such a good idea so I had to do it all myself.



It was a very very hot summer that year.

1974

Don't remember a lot about 1974.

I remember thinking that there was a perception out there that the Bay City Rollers were the biggest group on the planet. I didn't like them myself. There was this boy I knew called Adrian who wore horrible flares with tartan trims and a tartan scarf. He also used to smoke and light his own farts which I thought was appalling and common...

My musical influences this year were: Britten's Young Person's Guide (what a girly swot!); The Wombles and Olivia Newton John, cos she represented Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest with Long Live Love.

I also joined the choir of Holy Apostles Church. It's very different today, very happy clappy. This picture is from a couple of years later, when my brother joined too:

1973

Side, South Coast of Turkey. This is me and my brother in the lovely towelling beach robes that my mum made for us. She was a keen seamstress. She also used knit clothes for our action men, as they were so hard to come by in Turkey.




We moved back to Cheltenham in November. It was a massive culture shock for me. They made me wear shorts at school even in winter; the kids were so mean and talked funny...

1972

Alex and her familly and me and mine used to go on holiday a lot together. Here we are at Manavgat in Southern Turkey:

1971

We moved to Turkey next, where I met my oldest friend in the world, Alex:



Is that a book about soldiers or football or racing cars she's trying to wrestle from my grasp? No? Hmmm...

I went to a really great school in Ankara, the British Embassy Study Group.

1970

Tired of the tropics, we moved to Northern Ireland in 1970. Here's me at Mount Stewart in my lovely anorack:



And on my bike outside our house in Bangor (I didn't feel comfortable without stabilizers until 1998):



This is one of my favourite photos of my pa, my brother and me, I think on the sea-front in Bangor:

1969

Toute la famille en 1969:

1968

I went to ex-pat playschool, still in my pants:



Oh, and suddenly my world was in blooming technicolor:

1967

I spent most of 1967 in just my pants, or sitting on the front step looking wistful:




My brother was born this year, and was revered by Singaporeans as the second coming of Buddha (here we are with Arhan, our Chinese nanny):

1966

I spent a few more months in Cheltenham, before moving with my parents to Singapore. Here they are celebrating New Year's Eve in the Tanglin Club in Singapore:

1965

I was born in Cheltenham on 14 October, a marvellous 23-hour long birthday present for my mother.