The changing decades of a BABY BOOMER

About the Book

On the first day back at school at Clee Grammar, Cleethorpes, the Head, Mr Shaw, started by saying “a new year and new decade “. It was Colin Shaw and it said C. Shaw on his office door. Appropriate for a seaside town! This got me thinking, At the age of 14. a decade had been a lifetime. The next decade would be another life time. In 10 years, I would have done my O and A levels, gone to college and may be even married! 10 years! I could not comprehend it. As it happened, each decade of my life did change dramatically. 50’s school. 60’s Grammar school and college. 70’s Family, allotment and weightlifting. 80’s O.U. and climbing UK. 90’s climbing Europe. 2000’s Retirement. 2010’s mountaineering worldwide and then 2020’s Covid! I started taking photos when I cycled over the Alps in 1964. Since then, I have amassed 7000 slides. 40 years later photography went digital and now I have another 10,000 or so. Therefore this little book is a photographic record of the changing decades of my life.

About the Author

Born 10th October 1946, one of many baby boomers born after the War. Everyone was poor in the 50’s, but happy. No TV and few cars. Once my parents bought me a racing bike, I found adventure and fitness. I taught in London for a year and then moved back North. I taught Geography , Geology and Outdoor Pursuits. I had a climbing wall built at school and also built canoes. For 15 years I ran a summer camp in the Peak District , where the pupils engaged in 7 activities. A lifetime of sport and teaching children to go outdoors allowed me to travel the world. It’s good to know that I have been an inspiration to many students to experience the great outdoors instead of sitting at home on their i-pads and phones! Nearly 75 as I write this, I am still climbing, cycling, mountaineering, running and weight training.