(with sincere thanks to Colin's lifelong friend Michael Close) I first met met Colin in 1942 when he moved from Largs to Greenock and joined me at Greenock Academy. I, a Sassenach from Wembley, had come there the previous year, and as the majority of our class mates were born and bred in Greenock and had attended the Academy from about the age of five, Colin and I had something in common. Naturally we became friends. Incidentally our fathers were business acquaintances, mine having been loaned from the Port of London Authority to help with the shipping which had been diverted to the River Clyde from London during the war. Although we were at a rugby playing school, Colin and I both preferred football and in particular watching Greenock Morton F.C matches. We attended most home matches and the occasional away matches in Glasgow. Colin of course later in life did some refereeing and was an avid Barnet F.C. supporter. In those days he had ambitions to became a football reporter. Unfortunately, frequently he was so busy writing during a match that he frequently missed some important goals and other events. I must admit to being slightly amused when this happened. When the war ended and our schooling finished, Colin and I both moved down to England and before we left, we agreed to keep in contact. I did this early on by visiting him and his parents and sister, Jan, in Bristol. Naturally we went to see both Bristol City F.C. and Bristol Rovers F.C. playing football. After our National Service, Colin and I were living reasonably close to each other. Colin was in Golders Green with his parents and sister and I back in Wembley with my parents. On occasions I visited him in Golders Green. By this time we had both become life long Civil Servants. We then took the first of our holidays together, sailing on the Norfolk Broads. Many years later we had two more holidays together, cruising on the Norfolk Broads as family men. At the time I was quite surprised to hear that Colin was to be the first of my friends to become a married man. I can still remember going to his wedding and visiting him and Pam in Barnet in the early years of their marriage and seeing what it was like to live the life of a young family man. Colin was the most devoted family man of all my friends and acquaintances. We managed to keep in contact for the rest of his life even after he moved to Canada. He even managed to come to the Golden Wedding celebration of Elisabeth and myself in 2010. The last time I saw him was when he and Heather visited us in October of last year.