The Big Breach - Index of

The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comyear-old. I set off for home at the double, hoping the grumpypostmaster wouldn't collar me as I passed his house.Father was from a Lancashire farming family and met my mother whilestudying agriculture at Newcastle University. In 1962 they emigrated toNew Zealand with their son, Matthew, who was then less than a year old.Father got a job with the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture as a farmadviser in Hamilton, North Island. I was born in 1963 shortly aftertheir arrival; then in 1964 came Jonathan, my younger brother. NewZealand was an idyllic place to bring up a young family - good climate,peaceful, plenty of space - and Father wanted to stay, but my motherwanted us to be educated in England.On our return in 1968 my father found work as an agricultural adviserin what was then called the county of Cumberland. My parents startedhouse hunting in the area and discovered an old coachhouse that theyboth liked in a village a few miles north of Penrith. The house was notvery large and was in a ramshackle condition, but it had a big gardencontaining some spacious outbuildings. My mother liked the large gardenthat would give her three young sons plenty of room to play. My fatherwas keen on DIY and building, and saw plenty of scope for improvement.They scraped together the money they had and mortgaged themselves tothe hilt to buy it and we moved in shortly after my fifth birthday. Mymother started work as a biology teacher in a comprehensive school inthe market town of Penrith.At first my brothers and I attended local primary schools, but myparents wanted a better education for us than that provided by thesecondary schools in the area. Matthew, being the eldest, sat theentrance exams for nearby private schools and won a scholarship toBarnard Castle, an independent boarding school near Durham in northeastEngland. He started there in 1972 and I followed the year after,also with a scholarship, then Jonathan two years later. Despite freetuition, it was still a considerable financial sacrifice for my parentsto pay the school fees every year. It must have been quite an emotionalsacrifice for them too, because we all hated the place.Barnard Castle school was very sport-oriented, particularly towardsrugby. I scraped into the school rugby and swimming teams a few timesas a junior, but lost interest in later years. The disciplined regimeof boarding school was unpleasant. Life was dictated by bells - bellsfor lessons, meals, prep, bedtime, lights-out and chapel. There were afew good times there, but my strongest memories are of being cold,hungry and slightly bored. The daily chapel services - twice on Sundays- were especially tedious.The holidays made school bearable, particularly the long summer break.The River Eden ran through the village and many hours were spent withthe local boys on the bridge, carving our initials into the parapet andpulling wheelies on our bikes. In the summer we spent long afternoonsin the river, swimming and shooting the rapids on old inner tubes.Everything mechanical interested me and many happy hours were spenttinkering in my father's workshop in the big barn next to our house,fiddling with his tools and getting filthy dirty. With my father, Ibuilt a go-kart from bits of scrap-metal and an old Briggs & Strattonbail-elevator engine rescued from a nearby farmyard, and used it totear up my mother's lawn. The go-kart was joined by an old Lambrettapage- 5 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com