GFA
Granddad Far Away has been the only name I have known for my granddad; he was a remote figure who lived in many different countries. When I was 12, GFA moved back to the UK after having been abroad for 20 years. GFA was born in December 1947 in Westerton, Glasgow, where he lived until he was 5 years old. In 1953 his family moved to Liverpool where he stayed until he was 9, and he then moved back to Glasgow.
In January 1965 he joined the Navy at a mere 17 years old for a 5 year training period, although 2 years were spent in Cornwall and the other 3 spent in Arbroath, Scotland. Upon finishing his training he was stationed in Culdrose, Cornwall in the position of Petty Officer. During his time based in here he had my mother, Donna, in 1969. In 1972 he was based in Prestwick, Scotland, where the following year he had his first son, Mark. He stayed in Prestwick until 1976 where he went back to being based at Culdrose. In 1979 he decided to spend the year between Plymouth and London while he got his degree, Air and Nautical engineering before returning to Culdrose in 1980. During the Falklands war that span from 1981 to 1983, he was an executive officer on the helicopters and an air engineer officer. This made him second in command upon one of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Following the Falklands war, he had a staff job as deputy in charge of training, which based him in Yeovil. In 1985 he was posted upon the Ark Royal for 2 years as project manager and air engineer. He then moved to London where he was posted as project manager of the “Thatcher� project, which lead on to being a part of an Aircraft Support project at the Ministry of Defense. After 26 years in the Navy, in 1989 he resigned because he had always aspired to go into business while he was still young enough to do so. He had wanted to pursue this a few years earlier, although once he reached 38, he was able to receive his pension. Another reason for his leaving was there were no more active roles for him within the Navy after this point because of he had worked his way up the rankings.
GFA on an Outward Bounds trip as part of Navy training, three years after joing the Navy. Aviemore, Scotland. 1967.
Arbroath, Scotland. 1967.
Taken by a friend for a photography competetion for Guinness, in which people were asked to take pictures of people enjoying their pints of Guinness. This picture of GFA won first prize. Cornwall, England. 1981.
During a post with the Navy, GFA said he wanted to live here one day because he loved the city so much. He did 19 years later. Lisbon, Portugal. 1986.
GFA taken aboard the Ark Royal on Tagus River. These sunglasses were only bought for this picture. Lisbon, Portugal. 1986.
GFA as Senior Officer of the Ark Royal when it was in the New York Harbour during the re-opening of the Statue of Liberty, with his deputy, John Beavis New York, USA. 1987.
GFA on the Ark Royal on the Hudson River. New York, USA. 1987.
Following his resignation from the Navy in 1989, GFA moved to Nairobi, Kenya. He had never been there before, and decided it to move there because there was a large English population there to socialize with. Not long after settling in Nairobi, he bought into a Sisal farm with a business partner. The farm was 19,000 acres and was based in a semi arid area, which means there was very little rainfall. Not long after he moved there, he met his wife, Lizzie, who owned a clothing shop in Nairobi. While running the Sisal farm, he was building up a business of which he became a representative of multinational corporations. GFA and Lizzie had a son in 1992 called Will, who holds dual nationality. In May 1999 GFA was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), at which point he was told he had a life expectancy of 8 to 10 years. Just over a year later he had his last child, Amelia, at which point he briefly moved back to UK with Lizzie.
GFA with partner Lizzie, not long after they met, at her parents house. Buckinghamshire, England. 1991.
GFA with his daughter, Donna, who is 23 years old, during a long weekend in Mombasa. Mombasa, Kenya. 1992.
Self portrait with son, Will, who was 2 years old at the time. Nairobi, Kenya. 1994.
After leaving the Navy, GFA joined the flying club in Nairobi as you needed to log a certain amount of hours of flying each year in order to retain a pilot’s license. This was the plane that he leased to keep his flying practice up. Nairobi, Kenya. 1994.
GFA at his daughter’s house with new born granddaughter, Abi. Cornwall, England. 1997.
GFA with his son Mark, daughter Donna and granddaughter Abi. Buckinghamshire, England. 1999.
All four of GFA’s children at his youngest daughter’s christening: (from left to right): Donna, Amelia, himself, Will and Mark. Buckinghamshire, England. 2000.
In 2005, GFA moved to Lisbon, Portugal after loving the city so much during a trip there while he was in the Navy. Nairobi is 1 mile high in altitude, and made a difficult environment in which to be ill. He was also struggling with the long haul flights back to the UK for business and to visit family. GFA reluctantly moved back to UK in 2009.