Centre Court both years. Ages:- 15 and 16  I think Yvon Petra beat Geoff Brown in 46 and Jack Kramer beat Tom Brown in 47.

Of course I did. It was all very thrilling. Firstly, the 'freedom' of being 'outside'. Mixing with 'ordinary and extraordinary' people. The obvious thrill of being in the public eye. Including royalty. The thrill of witnessing the best in the world, at close range. The pocket money. Although your own information says that we got the equivalent of today's £.25, I seem to recall that we actually got 19s - 6d. !!! The grub:- This was heaven. And the free vouchers for strawberries and cream. Yummy. The autographs: Simple and easy to get, because we were in a privileged position. (all gone now of course).

I enjoyed the coach trip. - I enjoyed learning about a game which we had no chance of playing. - I enjoyed meeting all the world's best players.  However, of all these forms of enjoyment, the greatest was for me, just for a short period being part of the normal world.

Just one dislike:- Dan Maskell - An awful snob.

Yes. - I did the Mens Finals of 46 and 47. And on one occasion (I can't remember which one it was, in a moment of madness I threw a ball down to one end of the court, from my position as a 'net' boy. Unfortunately, the ball slipped out of my hand, hit the umpire, and skewed into the middle of the court. Normally this wouldn't have meant very much. But on this occasion, it was the 2nd serve, the incident was deemed to have been responsible for a double-fault, and yours truly was soundly 'rhubarbed-rhubarbed' by the crowd, for creating a losing point. - And all this in front of His Majesty of some sort. (Can't remember who). - The proverbial 'hole in the ground' never appeared, so I had to sweat it out.

I had two favourites:- Firstly Jaroslav Drobny - who at the time was Czech I believe. A left-hander, with wonderful technique, and a touch like velvet when it mattered. Jack Kramer:- Who was a 'gentleman'. I say this, because quite a few of the players were most certainly not gentlemen, and would sometimes treat us like dirt.

I don't think I have one. Possibly Andre Agassi. The game has changed so much (not necessarily for the better), that attitudes have also changed with it. The other person would have to be Federer. He has everything. Including a fantastic temperament.

No. I never played much anyway. I went into table-tennis, where I went on to represent the county on a senior level. Which reminds me. I seem to recall that I was the winner of the very first Table-Tennis championship ever held at the school. This should be on record somewhere I presume. T'would be nice to get proof.

Not really. I'm 72yrs of age now, and my life is full of music-making (keyboards - making CD's, and playing golf.  I have forgotten most of my times in Barnardo's, albeit I am still most grateful to them for helping me to grow up. A wonderful (albeit occasionally misguided) organisation.