John came to Saunders Roe in 1952, one year after I had started there. We moved through the apprenticeship along similar paths, during which time I became  aware of some of John's stunts that he had brought from his public school background. Eventually, in about 1955 we started sharing digs with Mrs Plumbly in Cambridge Rd. By now we were both studying for our Higher National Certificate at  Newport Tech college. As I recall, it was John who stirred us up to begin revising for the exams, and I have to believe that without John's goading and inspiration I would probably have failed for what would have been the second and probably the final time.  Thanks for that John, and for the many other acts of encouragement over the years. You have been an inspiration