Arrived into the world of R.F. late May 1955.
Spent a lot of my youth playing rugby and tinkering with 19 & 22 Sets in the garden shed. It was not until I started working (and retired from rugby) that the radio bug took hold again. Started the RAE and was persuaded to do "the morse" by Brian G4MNW (SK). Finally licensed in Aug 1981.
First love is CW 
but infrequently dabble in most modes - back to the key (paddles) within the hour.
Member of: FISTS #130, RAOTA #2070, WAB (SE55) - Book #6903, CDXC, RSGB, Spen Valley ARS (Chairman), CTC #1533 and NAQCC #2510.
Enjoy Rag Chewing as well as chasing DX, collecting awards (DXCC etc.) and QSL cards.
Current set-up is a Flex 5000A, Yaesu FTdx3000, Expert 1K Linear, 6 band Hexbeam aloft a 60ft tower (mostly kept at 20ft) and a doublet antenna.
FISTS have a number of awards. Those achieved so far are:
Century Certificate (CC), Silver #546, Gold #336, Platinum #529, Perpetual Prefix #1, 25th Anniversary Prefix #1 and Millionaire #131.
A few years ago I had a double carpel tunnel operation. The upshot is I cannot use a pump-key for more than a few minutes so have moved to capacitance touch paddles (www.cwtouchkeyers.com). The latest are fashioned from an old brass coat hook, soldered to banana plugs and mounted under the desk. Fabric wadding and cocktail stick are used for spacing and stability.
Now retired - having spent my career teaching Mathematics in High Schools (oddly I do not miss it at all). Trying to spend some quality time in the shack but the rest of life seems to be getting in the way - on the air less than when I worked full-time!
The Shack
Touch Paddles
The Hexbeam
And In Ancient Times
A few pictures of a younger G4MLW.
Early 1980's
A rally at Shelly High School. L-R G4MLW, Jim G4XTE and John G4KGS (our RAE tutor).
Not a radio in sight - odd shaped key in my hand!
1983
FT-107M, Junkers Key and a long gone BBC Microcomputer. Dig those curtains - man!
1987
Thinking Day On The Air - First Scholes' Guides.
A wooley mammoth on the mic.
1992
A new QTH, new shack, TS-440SAT, FT-107M and one of those new fangled Amstrad PCs.
Same old chair though.
Other Interests
I was 8 years old when the first episode of Doctor Who was broadcast.
The apperance of the Daleks obviously had an effect on my development as I now have dozens of the little "pepper pots" scattered around the office and shack (the XYL draws the line at the living room!).
A half completed full-size self build is in the garage waiting for the time I can spend on it.
Plans are also afoot for a full-size TARDIS for the garden. Photos will follow eventually......
Links
www.svars.org.uk
www.fists.co.uk
www.raota.org
www.worked-all-britain.co.uk
www.cdxc.org,uk
www.rsgb.org.uk
The White Rose Of Yorkshire
Departed from the world of R.F. - TBA
