I completed the award as one of the youngest ever candidates in 1964. I had the pleasure of working with some of staff at that time, meeting with Sir John Hunt, ex-Chindit Jon West and other inspiring individuals. Volunteered with the Cornwall Youth Service as they ran expeditions for a number of years.

The first aid and fire training (at active fire stations) we went through stood me in good stead in my working years; training for the expeditions taught me about London and the surrounding towns and villages and I was fortunate to meet others who came from completely different social backgrounds and we slogged it out together across Dartmoor and the New Forest, inevitably in the pouring rain, developing survival skills.

At the presentation I remember my mother (all of 4ft 11in) and never a social climber, hoisting herself up on to a table to watch, proudly wearing the hat she had bought for the occasion.

As a consequence of my being summoned to the palace, I got a day off from my company, St Clements Press, got called into the chairman's office, told I had bought honour to the organisation and he then chopped a year off my apprenticeship, gave me a pay rise and back pay. Never forgotten!