Gordon Aspey b' March 1934, recalls his journey from the workhouse to the Foundling Hospital a charitable institution that cared for abandoned and destitute children. At the age of three months old he is handed over to The Foundling Hospital a charitable institution that catered for abandoned children. They place him with a foster mother until the age of five He develops a deep filial attachment to Mrs.Tapp the foster mother a good hearted and wise woman who provides him with a secure and loving home. He shrugs off his connections with the charitable past which he feels are not always helpful.

He develops a love of boats and the sea but after running into a force 10 storm in 1987 when survival looked to be in doubt, the experience had a devastating effect upon him.