It was 1964. I had done my A levels at Leighton Park in Reading and decided to accompany a school friend, John Beacon, on a trip to Africa.

He had won a travel award for £50 and the idea was to see how far we could go. And Africa beckoned.

The cheapest way of getting there seemed to by boat, from Marseilles to Mombasa, so we booked tickets and began the trip of a lifetime.

Wel, not really the trip of a lifetime, but from Paddington to Dover Priory. MORE TO FOLLOW.