Herpetological ambitions

When I grew up I wanted to be ... A herpetologist. Was never going to happen but first part of the plan was to make my dad and grandad build me a greenhouse in the garden at Warlingham. 

Thriller to Manilla

 

A first-day cover. I had no intention of collecting these when this all started but some are too interesting to miss. And just how much excitement can one piece of paper evoke? This little envelope was one of 110,000 items onboard 'China Clipper' registration NC14716 – a Martin M-130 four-engine flying boat, when it completed the first airmail cargo flight across the Pacific Ocean from Alameda, California to Manila after travelling via Honolulu, Midway Island, Wake Island, and Guam. It was the first commercial flight across the Pacific and marked the dawn of a new era of flight. The aircraft later crashed on approach to Trinidad! Historynet has a great write up on the flight and its treacherous start. 

I flew to Manila once, in January 2014, on one of my ‘top ten Virgin Atlantic moments’. Flying with just three other passengers on an empty Airbus A340, we were headed down there for heavy maintenance, but also delivering aid for Typhoon victims. It was a crazy trip that included dwarf wrestling, a street called ‘The Axis of Evil’ and a trip home via Tokyo. 

China Clipper sets off from San Francisco with my stamp onboard

On the ground in Manilla

New Forest, old photo

 

Virtually on our doorstep, one of the most beautiful places. Somewhere I used to go as a teenager (although the only photo I can find of those times is below which shows my dad, watched by my brother Steve and his friend Steve Grant, tossing a caber. The second photo was taken in 2021, Sue and I on a lovely glamping trip to Burley.