In the late 50,s you leave school start an apprenticeship, usually between 14 and 15 years old, lots of factories, mills, mines, to choose from,or god forbid the armed forces,imagine the culture shock , go and see some wicked men in khaki on a monday, and hey presto 14 days later you are in a place called aldershot,secure in the knowledge your loving parents have signed away 15 years of your life,no ipods, laptops or civilian clothes for the first 3 months and after that only mufti, back to schoollearn a trade take a degree, and learn to be a squaddie, kiss your hair goodbye, and get very close and personal with blanco, brasso and cherryblossom bootcream,not old enough to vote, go in a pub, but old enuf to carry a rifle for queen and country,running paralell with your service is a scheme called national service, 10,s of thousands of poor buggers pressganged and bashed through 6 weeks basic training and then off to units and countries with exotic names, Catterick, Sennelager, Fallingbostel, and Gil Gil to name a few, no such thing as human rights,and military glasshouses and prisons were places to be dreaded colchester, sheptonmallet, or for soldiers under 17 Blackdown Nick!many a boy sent there came back a military robot, just wind up once a day and let them go, so we survived the 50,s and 60,s and have earned our retirement , my grandkids like to visit their crazy grandad who calls thailand and australia home, and is always ready for a laugh and a game of footie

Nignoy ......

What's all this about 'retired'?

Did all that (but in the Air Force) and still working.

But never a robot - had a year learning about radar, then sent to an air-sea rescue helicopter squadron and spent the next year riding up and down on a piece of string.

All our pilots and navigators were Czech and Polish, having stayed in UK at the end of the war, because nothing to go home to. Mad buggers, every one. Most had also served in dam-buster squadrons and similar through the war. If it needed insanity, they were the first to volunteer.

Same in battle of britain - 10% of all pilots were Polish, casualty rate was highest per capita. But great people to fly with.

[Nignoy ......

What's all this about 'retired'?

Did all that (but in the Air Force) and still working.

But never a robot - had a year learning about radar, then sent to an air-sea rescue helicopter squadron and spent the next year riding up and down on a piece of string.

Would the words puppet or marrionet be more applicable to this?

All seeing eye? What a <deleted>.

Regards.

[Nignoy ......

What's all this about 'retired'?

Did all that (but in the Air Force) and still working.

But never a robot - had a year learning about radar, then sent to an air-sea rescue helicopter squadron and spent the next year riding up and down on a piece of string.

Would the words puppet or marrionet be more applicable to this?

Only one string - so couldn't do much about controlling me.

Most effective mithod was to drop the chopper twenty feet just before I touched the water. Very funny joke - for the pilot and navigator.

any one born in the 40,s should be retired now,of course there were good times to in the 50,s but few and far between in the north of england at that time, but when one looks at the the advances and advantages of life today,nice to walk into a bank and withdraw your own money without the use off a sawnoff or at the age of 54 move half way round the world and start a new life and succeed at it too, to earn enuf to pay cash for your first new car, and most important the self respect of being able to retire in the knowledge that you have done your bit and can still stick 2 fingers up at the world :jap:

Having been around for my 3 score years and ten I have to agree with the old cowboy... The answer to a happy life is...

Faster horses

Younger women

Older whiskey

and more money

Do you read Larry McMurtry?

He's great for old cowboy philosophy...

Edit: “If you wait, all that happens is that you get older.”

any one born in the 40,s should be retired now,of course there were good times to in the 50,s but few and far between in the north of england at that time, but when one looks at the the advances and advantages of life today,nice to walk into a bank and withdraw your own money without the use off a sawnoff or at the age of 54 move half way round the world and start a new life and succeed at it too, to earn enuf to pay cash for your first new car, and most important the self respect of being able to retire in the knowledge that you have done your bit and can still stick 2 fingers up at the world :jap:

Well, I was born in the thirties, not the forties, but have no intention of retiring. My driver picks me up at six in the morning, drops me back at my apartment at around 7.30 at night - spend the intervening time building a power plant here in South Vietnam.

I was stationed at Leuchars (near St Andrews, Scotland) during a year of my National Service, couldn't get back down South on my weekend passes, so went with the three other English guys in y squadron back to sunny Newcastle. And yes, things were hard there, but no harder than I was used to, having been bombed out in 41 and spending the next few years moving every few months. Never stopped moving around, really. Can't settle anywhere for long.

Only problem is the pension. But that'll take care of itself when I do retire.

any one born in the 40,s should be retired now,of course there were good times to in the 50,s but few and far between in the north of england at that time, but when one looks at the the advances and advantages of life today,nice to walk into a bank and withdraw your own money without the use off a sawnoff or at the age of 54 move half way round the world and start a new life and succeed at it too, to earn enuf to pay cash for your first new car, and most important the self respect of being able to retire in the knowledge that you have done your bit and can still stick 2 fingers up at the world :jap:

Well, I was born in the thirties, not the forties, but have no intention of retiring. My driver picks me up at six in the morning, drops me back at my apartment at around 7.30 at night - spend the intervening time building a power plant here in South Vietnam.

I was stationed at Leuchars (near St Andrews, Scotland) during a year of my National Service, couldn't get back down South on my weekend passes, so went with the three other English guys in y squadron back to sunny Newcastle. And yes, things were hard there, but no harder than I was used to, having been bombed out in 41 and spending the next few years moving every few months. Never stopped moving around, really. Can't settle anywhere for long.

Only problem is the pension. But that'll take care of itself when I do retire.

Hope you have someone to help you build that power plant. Hard work I'm sure and at your age you could easily put your back out

any one born in the 40,s should be retired now,of course there were good times to in the 50,s but few and far between in the north of england at that time, but when one looks at the the advances and advantages of life today,nice to walk into a bank and withdraw your own money without the use off a sawnoff or at the age of 54 move half way round the world and start a new life and succeed at it too, to earn enuf to pay cash for your first new car, and most important the self respect of being able to retire in the knowledge that you have done your bit and can still stick 2 fingers up at the world :jap:

Well, I was born in the thirties, not the forties, but have no intention of retiring. My driver picks me up at six in the morning, drops me back at my apartment at around 7.30 at night - spend the intervening time building a power plant here in South Vietnam.

I was stationed at Leuchars (near St Andrews, Scotland) during a year of my National Service, couldn't get back down South on my weekend passes, so went with the three other English guys in y squadron back to sunny Newcastle. And yes, things were hard there, but no harder than I was used to, having been bombed out in 41 and spending the next few years moving every few months. Never stopped moving around, really. Can't settle anywhere for long.

Only problem is the pension. But that'll take care of itself when I do retire.

Hope you have someone to help you build that power plant. Hard work I'm sure and at your age you could easily put your back out

10,000 fixed bicycles - lots of people pedalling like mad.

OK during the cooler weather, but when the air-con demand racks up, they have to pedal twice as hard.

Sounds like you and I are in the same age bracket, Humphrey. We gotta keep moving or the parts wear out. If I sit too long nature just sort of takes over...

Or, I just fall asleep and somebody paints my behind...

Pump a pumpkin?

Have about the same amount of hair too - except some of your seems to have slipped around the front.

(Not the photo above - the normal photos!!)

(Normal? What's normal?)

The annoying thing about getting older is the slowing down.

I can still go for a ten-mile run with no problem, but it takes so much longer.

I used to play rugby, but although I can still pas, tackle and kick (well, as well as any forward can), I cannot run so well. Lift the second rower, no problem - put him back down - oooohhhh, my back!!

I've spent most of my life moving from place to place, since being bombed out in 1941, just cannot settle. But I'll have to retire soon and change my ways. With a small daughter to look after life will not be dull.

Bringing up the girl will keep you young. Keep you poor, but young

The annoying thing about getting older is the slowing down.

I can still go for a ten-mile run with no problem, but it takes so much longer.

I used to play rugby, but although I can still pas, tackle and kick (well, as well as any forward can), I cannot run so well. Lift the second rower, no problem - put him back down - oooohhhh, my back!!

I've spent most of my life moving from place to place, since being bombed out in 1941, just cannot settle. But I'll have to retire soon and change my ways. With a small daughter to look after life will not be dull.

Enjoy her teenage years.

Something I have to ask, what happens to the oar? (When you lift the second rower?)

The annoying thing about getting older is the slowing down.

I can still go for a ten-mile run with no problem, but it takes so much longer.

I used to play rugby, but although I can still pas, tackle and kick (well, as well as any forward can), I cannot run so well. Lift the second rower, no problem - put him back down - oooohhhh, my back!!

I've spent most of my life moving from place to place, since being bombed out in 1941, just cannot settle. But I'll have to retire soon and change my ways. With a small daughter to look after life will not be dull.

Enjoy her teenage years.

Something I have to ask, what happens to the oar? (When you lift the second rower?)

Sorry, it was donkey talk.

Lifting these dam_n lighthouses in a line-out does yer back in. Holding them up in the air when they weigh three-and-a-half tonnes is no joke. That's why I liked being #8 in the pack - you're at the back of the line-out and most of the time have nothing to do.

National service had been scrapped when i turned 18,thank god,but i nearly made the aussie lottery for vietnam.Yes we've had a generally easy ride through life,and any scrapes and bruising have been down to ourselves and the decisions we've made.Many times my daughter has said to me "she would have liked to have been the same generation as us,mainly i think cos of the music.

You realise too,how fortunate we have been when talking to the thai ladies who have come out of places like isaan who have never had the means,or the education to explore the world.

Bringing up the girl will keep you young. Keep you poor, but young

If she's anything like my former wives, her mum will keep me poor, she'll just get the inheriance from the insurance

Just love all these pics............keep them coming.

when you have to retire and your body tells you to slow the fxxx down what can you do , when the screws holding the metal bits in place cant be tightened up or replaced, and your legs want to go down hill when you are walking up hill you have to admit to being knackered, an old german hunters rhyme roughly translated sums it all up nicely :When you powders all shot, and your barrel is rusty,the game is all gone and the chase is shot out, just lie down in peace and the hunting horn will sound Cock at Rest :jap:

Old anglers never die. We just sort of fade away. And especially when I wear my camo clothing.