I don't suppose there are many who remember me as the prolific blogger, I doubt those that do will ever look in here...... BUT ... my life is very different now to how it used to be, and so here's an update for the few that might might peep in. xxx.
My wife died just over 2 years ago, we were married 62 years, and it changed me considerably. Now, aged 86, I go where the wind blows me ... at first I painted and drew day & night like a maniac.
...the wind changed direction and I fell into Forensic Psychology and took a Masters of Science degree (MSc).
...the wind changed and connected me to my childhood: At 15 years of age I became apprenticed for 5 years to be a Shipwright (Ship & boat builder) ... I have begun, and have almost finished, a Master of Arts degree (MA) with the University of Portsmouth, in Naval History.
If the wind stays in this direction I shall start a Doctorate (PhD) late 2024. I intend to write a thesis on a marshland that became Samuel Pepys's Dockyard, which in turn built a hamlet to accommodate the dockyard workers. Until then, the workers and their families lived in the Hulks of the old Ships of the Line of the Royal Navy.
The Hulks were loved by the workers, with street names, and 'house numbers'. Against their will they were moved to the wooden houses: the 'Blue Houses'...the houses grew to become a wooden town named Blue Town ... no electricity, water from a well, almost primitive, and here is where I grew up.
There is so little written about this particular history, that the two years for research will be fully utilised, and then a year to write. The only problem is!!!! I feel a slight change in the wind and am feeling the need to draw what I will be writing about!
The Dockyard was closed in 1960. Blue Town expanded to become Sheerness and is more of a London suburb than a coastal town. So here we have the lifecycle of a dockyard and a way of life. Amen.
If I 'pop my clogs' before I finish, at least I will go out of this life loving what I am doing.
NOT MY ARTWORK
