Introduction
This is a brief personal history, concentrating on facts.
Periods covered are:
pre-school years
primary school years
secondary school years
university years
Essex years
A year in The Hague
Hampshire years
Christmas Letters
Pre-School
Years 1953-1957
I was born in 1953 to Roger and Beryl
West in Harrow-on-the Hill. My sister Barbara was born in 1955.
However, my parents marriage was in trouble, and they separated.
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Primary School
Years 1957-1964
I started at infant school in Harrow. However, my parents
separation meant that I spent time with a number of relatives,
and consequently a number of schools in quick succession. Eventually,
in about 1958, my father was awarded custody, found a house and
a housekeeper in Twickenham, and we settled down again. Barbara
and I started at St Mary's Primary School. I was a Cub Scout,
eventually becoming a Sixer.
After a few years my parents divorce came through and my father
remarried to Janet. In 1962, my brother Jonathan was born.
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Secondary School
Years 1964-1971
In 1964 we moved to Hampton Hill, just as I was changing school
from primary to secondary school. I attended Hampton Grammar
School. Academically I was very middle of the road, doing as
little work as I could reasonably get away with, there were other
things to do. I played rugby (hooker) for my year team, and represented
the school in both athletics (200m) and cross country. During
this period I was also confirmed.
I was taught both the piano and and violin, getting as far
as grade 3 piano, before my teacher declared me a lost cause.
I eventually got to grade 6 on the violin.
In 1967 we moved house to Purley, Surrey, and my sister Joanna
was born. I lived there until leaving for university going to
Purley Grammar School. Academically I collected some 10 "O"
and 4 "A" levels. Science and mathematics is where
my talents lay.
I still played rugby for the school team, but now it was on
the wing or at full back rather than at hooker, a bit of a change.
Eventually, I played cricket for the school, becoming the captain
of the school 2nd XI in the lower 6th. I was captain of the 2nd
bridge team, a game learnt during lunch time in the lower 6th.
Finally, I became a prefect.
Outside school my social life revolved around the youth club
of the local church (St Swithun's) called the Sunday Nighters.
Here I made some very good friends, whose memory I still treasure,
even though I see only a few of them now. There were plenty of
activities, in particular table tennis, darts and ten pin bowling,
so that now I can demonstrate a suitably misspent youth.
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University
Years 1971-1978
In 1971 I went to Leeds University to study Chemical Engineering
over 4 years. Almost immediately this gave me my first taste
of computing through a preliminary course in FORTRAN programming.
An advantage of doing a four year course was the opportunity
to do some extra courses, in my case a course in philosophy.
In my final year it was back to computers, using a simple simulator
as part of my final year design project. In my final year research
project I did some work looking at the effect of an ionising
flame (Bunsen burner) on the way a spray made droplets. The effect
was to make the droplet size more even, which is important for
agricultural applications. Some time in the mid 90's I saw this
idea presented on Tomorrow's World. I was so gobsmacked I failed
to record it. I still haven't seen it on a farm though.
After all this I ended up with an upper second, sufficient
to allow me to do a PhD. The title of this was "The mathematical
modelling of the anionic polymerisation of dienes in a continuous
stirred tank reactor", or more intelligibly the computer
simulation of a part of the process for making car tyre rubber.
The main part of this was in developing a program for the numerical
integration of stiff ordinary differential equations. However,
it was to take me some 18 months after starting work to complete
my thesis and defend it.
Diversions in the department included captaining the Engineering
Society basketball team in the university league, and playing
canasta with the other PhD students at lunch time.
For the first 18 months at university I was in Devonshire
Hall, a more traditional hall of residence. This gave me the
opportunity to complete my education in skills that indicate
a miss-spent youth, in particular table football, and to a lesser
extent snooker. I also learnt croquet and squash.
Socially my life revolved primarily around the Anglican Chaplaincy.
This is where I deepened my understanding of Christianity, made
many good and lasting friends, found house mates, took some first
steps in ecumenism in the Anglican and Methodist Society, provided
music for dances (barn dancing and disco) was a student church
officer, and met my wife to be, Lydia. Lydia was a medical student,
and it was wishing to be able to stay in Leeds whilst she completed
her medical degree and house jobs that motivated me to do a PhD.
We married in 1976 (the year of the drought) after her final
exams, which enabled us to move into hospital married accommodation.
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The Essex Years
1978-1988
At the end of my first degree I applied for a number of jobs
on the milk round, and was offered a job by Shell. When I found
I was able to do a PhD they held the offer until I had completed
my 3 years of study for that. So in October 1978 we headed south
to Essex, where there was a Shell refinery (Shell Haven) and
one of the best teaching practices in the country for Lydia who
was by now doing her GP training.
We started out in married accommodation at Basildon Hospital,
but quite quickly moved to a house in Langdon Hills. Here we
joined St Mary's Church, Langdon Hills and took up bell ringing.
It was whilst living here that Naomi was born in 1983. In 1986
we moved to Thorpe Bay in time for David to be born, and Naomi
to start school.
Meantime my working life with Shell
had started, mostly at Shell Haven, but latterly at Shell Mex
House.
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A Year in The
Hague 1989
In 1988 I was offered a job in The Hague starting at the beginning
of 1989. I spent 3 months commuting at weekends, and at Easter
Lydia and the children came out too. Whilst the job was interesting,
it didn't work out for the rest of the family, so at the end
of the year we returned to the UK. We did have a couple of good
holidays though, the first to Australia, seeing Melbourne and
Sydney, the second to the Canadian Rockies.
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The Hampshire
Years 1990 to the present
When we moved back to the UK at the beginning of 1990, my
job was in London, this time at Shell Centre, so Lydia chose
to live in Hampshire near Southampton, which had a teaching hospital.
Initially we rented houses, first in North Baddersley, near Romsey,
and then in Bursledon, near Hamble.
Finally, in 1991 we bought a house in Whiteley, Fareham, a
new development where we were amongst the first half dozen or
so inhabitants. We have watched Whiteley grow from a few houses
to a few thousand houses, a school, and a shopping centre. Whilst
I have been commuting up to London, Lydia has been working locally
as a GP, and Naomi and David have been going to school for the
most part in Portsmouth: to Portsmouth High School and Portsmouth
Grammar School respectively.
Initially we attended St Peter's Church in Titchfield, but
as numbers grew we established first a housegroup that met once
a month, and later, in 1995 helped to establish a church that
first met in our house, and later has met in the local hotel,
a community house, the local school, and currently the community
centre. We are now working on building a church complex.
Whilst here we have also taken up sailing.
Naomi started it when she joined Sea Scouts, and the rest of
us have followed in her footsteps. The Titchfield Sea Scouts
are affiliated to Hill
Head Sailing Club. We started in 1995 with a Mirror, to which
we added a Topper and a Laser a couple of years later. We then
sold the Mirror for a Wayfarer, and at the beginning of 2000
sold the Topper for a Buzz.
Christmas Letters
We have written newsletters each Christmas to our friends,
telling mostly of our journeys and other highlights. Find those
since 1990 below.
Christmas
2003
Christmas
2002
Christmas
2001
Christmas
2000
Christmas
1999
Christmas
1998
Christmas
1997
Christmas
1996
Christmas
1995
Christmas
1994
Christmas
1993
Christmas
1992
Christmas
1991
Christmas
1990
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