TS Hermes - Tiverton Sea Cadets

Tiverton: WWI Naval Gun [Lime Kiln Road] – Playing in the 1970s Was Very Different! (5.7.2025)

I was born in Oxford – but my parents moved to Tiverton (in East Devon) in 1970. I started school (Wilcombe) in 1972 (when 5-years old) – but changed to a school in Exeter in 1977. However, I have a memory of joining (after school) a group of classmates who “played” on a WWI Naval Gun situated on a public street (situated in Lime Kiln Road)! I have lived in Sutton (South-West Greater London) for over three-decades today – but recently – whilst picking-up my children from school in Cheam, I saw youths dressed in the uniforms of what is today termed the “Combined Cadet Force”, and the thought of myself once playing on a military gun (around 1977) bubbled-up in my mind (although publicly accessible – the gun in question was placed outside the Tiverton Sea Cadets Training Hall). In fact, after having experienced many interest things in my life (including four wonderful years based in Hereford during the 1980s), and having travelled around the world, I surprised myself with this memory and was not even sure it was real!

Diane Wyles c. 1975 - of the Lakota Tribe!

Torquay: Strange Goings within the English Riviera! (24.5.2025)

Above is my esteemed mother – Diane Wyles – and you can see the “Asian” influence – in this instance she is distantly linked to the squaws of Lakota Sioux – who defeated Custer at the Little Big Horn (it’s a long story). The Lakota women cut holes in the dead Custer’s ears – so that in his next life he would “listen”. As I have said many times, my family is ethnically mixed and proud to be so. My mother today is in her late 70s and very much the victim of an uncaring and collapsing British State. Her body is ageing and fragile but her spirit is strong.