Introduction
Having been nominated for a six month tour of the Falkland Islands during my last year of military service in 1986, I politely declined. The task of preparing myself for civilian life was, then, more important. It was a decision I regretted but which was made for the right reasons. Would I ever see these far off lands for which my colleagues fought in 1982? Fate took a hand and, whilst at Marconi, Cable & Wireless (C&W) Falkland Islands was given to me as a customer whose projects I would manage.So, in November 2000, and 14 years after my first opportunity, I headed to RAF Brize Norton for a combined business and leave trip 8,000 miles down south. It is a place, I was told, that you either like or don't - there is no halfway house. I fell into the former camp and it was the start of a longing.
Following a comment made to me on my departure, about returning to UK and missing out on lamb marking, I made the throw away remark that I'd go back in 2001. And so I did! I had a month's leave down there and two weeks of which were spent at Kingsford Valley Farm, San Carlos. This farm is run by Terence and Sheila, the parents of one of my former C&W customers, Justin. Whilst there, I helped with the lamb marking and also saw other aspects of farming, though only briefly.
Life at Marconi took a downturn and, in September 2002, I volunteered to take redundancy. What to do with my life? It was at this point that I decided it was now or never to see what job opportunities there were in the Falklands and, at the same time do something different. It was agreed that I could have a three and a half month Sabbatical staying at the farm and assisting in whatever was going on. This, then, is mainly an account of that period but also includes pictures and events from the previous two visits.
Before I go any further, I must first express my heartfelt thanks to Terence and Sheila McPhee for hosting me for most of the time and showing me the real and undoctored side of life and farming in the Falklands. Thanks are also due to the following for their generous hospitality:
All of the pictures used are scanned slides and so the quality is not as good as it would have been had they been digital photo's. If you have any comments, in general or to improve it, please use the visitors' book.
Thanks to Penny, Nick and Bryan for their time in reviewing and proof reading the site for me and making some valuable comments and suggestions.
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Happy browsing!