For years, friends have been telling me I should publish this blog. I regale and bore them witless with tales about stuff that has happened to me or stories that I’ve heard and, whilst they are usually too polite to tell me if they’re hearing the story for the 10,000th time, they still say I ought to get them written down before dementia kicks in and I forget everything. Much of the blog is not about myself (you’ll no doubt be relieved to hear), but about some of the fascinating people I’ve got to meet and work with over the past few decades. Every story is true and written as I remember it, but I’m sure that some aspects will have become embellished and exaggerated with the passage of time, that’s the nature of memory, after all.

Some of the stories relate to historical events, such as the Normandy landings, El Alamein and the decline of Hewlett-Packard. These are told as I was told them. I’m not a historian, so please excuse me if some of the historical facts don’t exactly match up with what some academic in a university library somewhere is saying – I’m merely repeating stories that were recounted by people who were actually there at the time, quite often recounted in a pub over a pint or two, with all the inaccuracies that may ensue in such situations.

Many people are referenced in the following sections. Out of consideration for their feelings and privacy, and not having been able to contact most of them to gain their permission, I have changed some of their names. If you are one of these people and you recognise yourself from the story, I hope you won’t be offended, or, if you know one of these people or can work out who they are, I’d really rather you didn’t tell anyone. There would be no point in my trying to respect their privacy if you don’t do the same!

I use photographs in this blog. Wherever possible, I’ve credited the copyright holders, but in some cases I don’t know who the copyright owners are, so, if you’re one of the people or organisations that I may have unwittingly maligned, please don’t hesitate to let me know and I’ll make the necessary edits.

Any road up (as we say in Birmingham), I hope you will find at least part of this blog entertaining, possibly even informative.

This blog costs money to produce, host and maintain. I don't believe in using Paywalls, but if you feel so inclined, it would be great if you could help out with the costs by buying me a coffee!