A Brief Résumé

As I have already said, my name is Philip Meers and I live in Birmingham, England. The picture at the start of this page shows me in my sitting room. If you ever see me on web cam then you will see this in the background. If I am online, you might see my web cam by clicking HERE. On the right are some links to other parts of my site. There are other links within the pages as well, so look out for them.

Links

Family and Friends

Favourite Places

Favourite Things

Friendship

Just for Fun

My Garden (1) (2) (3) (4)

People I admire

Photograph Album

Poetry Pleases

Serenity

Some Thoughts on Love

Statistics

Things That Amuse Me

Nationality

First off my background. I'm English (now I know that in the U.K. that is not actually politically correct, but I am proud to be English. I have nothing against the Scots or the Irish and I had a Welsh grandmother, but me, I'm English). I am in fact first a Midlander (not a Brummie though); second an Englishman; third a European; and fourth British. 

I know to some this is being pedantic, but I am proud of my region and my home town. Although it is not a well supported idea I would like to see a degree of autonomy from London which still seems to have a negative view of where I live. I am proud to be English as well, but have very few feelings about being British, which to me describes nothing at all. In recent years the Scots and the Welsh have been encouraged to be nationalistic - yet if an English person does so he is looked down upon. Also I feel I have far more in common with our continental neighbours than I do with for example Scotland, which to me is more foreign than France.

England

Europe

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Home Town

I live in England's second city, Birmingham. If you think you know about Birmingham, you might want to checkout some information before you judge my home town - Birmingham has come a long way in the last few years. In fact it has changed so much - and continues to change - that I feel like a tourist most of the time.

 Clicking on the picture on the right will take you to some links that I find interesting.

Birmingham

Deep Roots

I was born in Warwickshire in ... well shall I just say the Twentieth Century? No - OK then, on September 30th, 1954. My birth certificate says I was born in Coleshill in North Warwickshire, but I have only ever lived in Birmingham. I have deep roots - my sitting room is the room in which my mother was born! Apparently, my mother's older sister never forgave her for being born before she got home from school. I am third generation in the house, and although I have seen a number of changes over the years, I still like the area of Birmingham that I live in.

Clicking on the picture on the right will take you to some links about the county that I love so much.

Warwickshire

Education

I was educated at the local primary school - so local that the school grounds can be seen from my house. Then, despite passing the 11+, and being able to go to one of the most prestigious schools in Birmingham, I went, for various reasons, to a nearby comprehensive school where I had a great time. I loved school, which may explain my later decision to become a teacher. I think that there were only three things that I disliked about school - P.E. (or maybe just the P.E. teacher that I had, and for whom I had an absolute hatred); Woodwork (a tragedy really, as my father is a qualified cabinet maker and coach builder. Me + hammer = disaster!); and Metalwork. My favourites were Art; Maths (I still remember with affection my maths teacher); French; and eventually History. I was so lucky with my teachers, and I look back at my time in Secondary School as a pleasure. I also had some great friends whilst at school, but such is the way of the world that I have not kept in touch with them over the years.

Higher Education

I trained at the now closed St. Peter's College in Birmingham. The loss of St. Peter's was felt by all who had links with the place, and I can look back to my years there with great affection. Originally I trained to be a middle school teacher, but I actually went on to teach in a secondary school. I later took a degree in education (B.Ed Hons) at Newman College in Birmingham, receiving my degree (2:1) from Birmingham University.

Clicking on the pictures on the right will take you to some links on the Net. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any pictures of St. Peter's, nor is there a link on the net.

Newman College

Clicking on the hour glass will take you to some of my thoughts about history.

And finally...

          pause for sighs of relief...

I have been asked what makes someone such an egomaniac as to produce their own website like this. Well in my case it was because in January 2002 I broke my ankle. By February 2002 I was going mad with boredom having spent a whole month within the same four wall. I had already produced a website for the Intranet at work (a small thing - hah! - producing websites is addictive, it began with six pages and now runs to hundreds) so I was already hooked... what else was there but a personal site?

Ever since 2002 I have slowly added or generally tinkered with the site. During late 2004 and early 2005 I had plenty of time for tinkering. At some time in the previous 5 years I had caught a virus and without knowing it had damaged my heart - I suffered heart failure and was hospitalised for eight days. I am currently still not at work even though Easter is rapidly approaching, so again the website has become an interest that I can do without much exertion.

Website produced using:
Microsoft FrontPage 2000 Version 4

DHTL effects courtesy of:
Dynamic Drive

Add-ons courtesy of:
Geocities-Yahoo

If, after all of this you feel able to, you can leave me a message in my guestbook. Just remember what my old granny said (and if you believe that you probably believe that the moon is made of green cheese) "If you can't say anything good - LIE".

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