1948 Born 10th July, Swansea S Wales
1952-59 Mayhill Infants and Primary schools (Swansea)
1959-62 (Apr) Dynevor Grammar School (Swansea)
1962-66 Bideford Grammar School
1966-70 BSc Electronic Engineering, University College of Swansea
1970-78 Radar Systems Engineer, EMI Systems, Wells
1978-82 Electronics Engineer, BAe Systems Filton
1982-90 Senior Software Engineer, BAe Systems Filton
1990-93 Simulation Software Team Leader, Training Systems, BAe Filton
1993-98 IOS Software Team Leader, Training Systems, BAe Filton
1998-02 Principal System Designer, Training Systems, BAe Filton
2002-04 Unemployed after redundancy from BAe
2004-08 Part-time physics technician in local secondary school
2008-21 Retired and now volunteer with local woodland conservation group when not travelling abroad
A LETTER FROM YOUR PRESIDENT
I would like to thank you for electing me as your President for 2021/2022. It is a great honour to serve in this role and I hope to carry it out well in these difficult times. Normally I would have told you a little about myself at the annual dinner after the AGM but as this year’s dinner will be delayed, I am taking the opportunity to write a few words in the Bidefordian.
I do feel a bit of a fraud though as I only joined the Grammar School in the 3rd year just after Easter 1962. I was born and brought up in Swansea and attended a grammar school there until my family moved to Bideford. I do have strong connections with the town though, as my grandmother was born in Bridge St and my grandfather nearby in Westleigh. They married after my grandfather left the navy, and moved to Swansea around 1910 where he worked on the railways. My father was born there soon after and our welsh connection stems from there. My grandparents returned to Bideford in 1952 after retiring and my parents, sister and I visited them each summer on holiday and have many happy memories of the town. When my uncle died 10 years later in 1962 my grandfather was left on his own so we moved to Bideford to live with him.
It wasn’t a very happy start for me at Bideford Grammar School partly because it was going to be strange and I didn’t know anyone, but mainly because my school term in Swansea had finished a week later than BGS and I was put out because I’d lost some of my Easter holidays. I soon got over that though and settled in.
The next couple of years are still a bit of a blur but I do recall some of that time. Summertime, playing cricket at the far end of the field is a fond memory. Wintertime, playing rugby isn’t! To this day, I love watching other people play rugby but I still cannot understand why anyone would actually want to run around a field in all weathers and get beaten up. My only sporting prowess at school involved rifle shooting as part of the school Army Cadet Force detachment. It was my kind of sport as it was more about calm and control rather than speed and muscle – neither of which I had much of; and I became quite good at it.
After O levels I stayed on in the 6th form and did Maths and Physics until 1966 when I left BGS and returned to Swansea to do a degree in Electronic Engineering. I had a good time there and enjoyed student life to the full.
After graduating in 1970 my student days ended and I started working for EMI Ltd as a junior engineer at their labs in Wells, Somerset. The following year in 1971 I married my wife Sue and over the next few years we had a daughter then a son, expanding our family. We lived in Wells for several years then I left EMI Ltd and moved to British Aerospace at Filton near Bristol. I worked for them over the following 25 years doing a variety of jobs mostly associated with my background in radar and training systems. A lot of this was in conjunction with the armed forces of various countries and I spent some time in France, Norway, Singapore and the USA. This wasn’t all as exciting as it may seem and I remember trudging over a mile to work every morning through two feet of snow to get to work at a Norwegian naval base in December. Of course, there were other times and places, such as the south of France in September, which were much more enjoyable. In 2002 I left British Aerospace and finished my working life as a part-time science technician in a local secondary school. So, in a sense I went full circle from studying physics at a grammar school to looking after the physics labs and equipment at a comprehensive school. I worked there for a little over four years and then fully retired in 2008.
Since retiring our family has grown larger with the arrival of two granddaughters and twin grandsons. They are a constant delight and being with them helps keep us young at heart and not too grumpy. Amongst other activities, Sue and I have travelled extensively and been fortunate enough to experience the sights and diverse cultures of places such as Alaska, China, India, Malawi and many more. We were hoping to have visited 50 countries before our Golden Wedding Anniversary in July this year but unfortunately, Covid-19 has meant that we will have to wait a bit longer to reach that particular goal.
I am still living near Bristol in a small town called Thornbury that is similar to Bideford but doesn’t have a river running through it. The Severn is only a couple of miles away though so I don’t lack some riverside walking. As well as this I am part of a local conservation group that looks after a nearby 17-acre patch of community woodland on behalf of S Gloucestershire County Council and that keeps me fit and healthy.
I am looking forward to my term of office as your President and hope to get to know more of you in the future.
Alan Watts
