We stood as Sedgy came into our new form room, September 1952. This was Dr S E J Best, headmaster, Doncaster Grammar School. He said that now we were in the lower sixth we should read a quality newspaper. I looked over the five supplied and decided that the Manchester Guardian was the most interesting, and have read it, or its successors, ever since.
I had developed an early interest in science and about age nine pestered my father to get me a chemistry set for Christmas. That changed my life. I read most of the science books in our town library and performed experiments, many of which would probably now be illegal.
I attended what was then King’s College, Newcastle upon Tyne, to take chemistry but left with degrees in botany. Emigrating to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1963 I subscribed to the Guardian Weekly. Now retired to Victoria, British Columbia, for its mild climate, I breed novel plant hybrids, volunteer at Abkhazi Garden, a local gem, and, with my wife Linda attend some of the rich offerings of opera, theatre, music and the visual arts that are available.
