The Drew Pages: Alan

Alan Drew's Page

Picture circa early 1980's!

Hi!

You really are plumbing the depths of the Internet if you've arrived here. Now that you are here, though, you may as well read on ... first the boring bits ..

I have worked in the computer industry for over 25 years, and am currently with the Halifax (you know, the one that used to be the world's biggest building society). My main line of work is with computers in the data centres. I am a member of the British Computer Society, Treasurer of the local branch, and a Chartered Information Systems Engineer.

And now my connection with the area around Ilkley .......

I moved to this area in 1985, but am not the first member of the Drew family to live in the West Riding. In the late 19th century, my Great Grandfather lived in Bradford. He was William Henry Drew, known as Harry. He led the Manningham Mills Strike in the early 1890's, and went on to become leader of the Bradford Independent Labour Party. It was he, with others, who brought about the meeting, in Bradford, which founded the Independent Labour Party, at which Keir Hardie was elected leader. This was the birth of one of the major strands of the Labour Party itself (which was formed in 1900, changing its name in 1907, a move which Peter Mandelson would have been proud of).

My interests, though, are not in politics, but in local activities. They are reflected in some of the material contained within these pages, such as being treasurer of the local computer club. I also enjoy a broad range of music favourite bands and artistes include the CBSO, Queen, and Gary Moore. The best of them all, though is the Boss - Bruce Springsteen. I won't say anything about Led Zeppelin, have a look at Dorothea's Page. In the classical music arena, I enjoy listening to piano music, particularly the 'romantic' composers such as Grieg and Chopin.

I entered the Net in mid-1995, via The BBC Networking Club. When they folded, we became part of Pipex DialSpace. I've since ditched them (too expensive), moved onto Virgin Net. My stay there ended following their price rise and just-OK-service. Moved on to ClaraNet, then Prestel, and Force 9, but now Cable Internet is the ISP in favour at the moment! Unmetered phone costs were the reason for the last move

A couple of places to visit are:
Sunderland AFC , one of the best UK Soccer pages around.
and
The Ilkley Pages

I'm keen to hear your comments and suggestions, hints and tips about creating interesting Web pages.
Send an e-mail to Alan Drew