1958            1960               1962            1994          2001

In The Beginning...

I was born in 1958, the third (and youngest) son of Gordon & Mary Thomas. My two elder brothers are Peter (born 1947) and Roger (born 1950). (Roger has his own website - click here to visit it.) We lived at 34, Oakham Road, Harborne, Birmingham in a decent-sized 1930s semi-detached house in what is now a very sought-after district.

Schooldays

Just before my 5th birthday (in 1963), I started  attending Chigwell House School. It was a private (fee-paying) primary school which was highly regarded and which both my brothers had attended. 
Following my successful completion of the "11+" exams at 11 years old (in 1969), I became a pupil at King Edwards Five Ways Grammar School in Bartley Green, on the outskirts of Birmingham. Despite a good start at the school, I didn't really fulfil my early promise and though I stayed at the school and took my "A" level exams, I left with a large number of "O" levels but no "A" levels.

Earning a living

We all thought the job market was bad in 1976 when I left school, but it is much more difficult to get a job nowadays. I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I walked straight into a job at Kalamazoo Ltd in Northfield, as a (trainee) computer operator.  After 4 years operating, I wanted to try my hand at programming and successfully made the transition (still at Kalamazoo) in 1980. And I'm still there in 2009. The company is now Kalamazoo Secure Solutions Ltd and is part of the Adare Group of companies.