CAPE TOWN is one of the most exciting, exotic cities in the world. Small wonder that former Huddersfield boy Michael Timewell and his wife Yvonne feel they have a foot in both camps.

"We have visited Huddersfield many times since leaving in 1968 and we have been lucky to have our family and friends visit us quite often," said Michael.

"However after all these years we still have one foot in Cape Town and the other in ‘sunny’ England."

The Timewell family moved to Huddersfield when Michael was aged eight.

After the 11-plus he went to Hillhouse Technical College and everybody moved up to Huddersfield New College a year or two later.

"I remember a few of my class mates: Johnny Johnstone, Tony Birkhead, Alan Royston, David Middleton among them," said Michael.

He recalls two other unrelated Timewells, sons of the then headmaster at Rawthorpe Secondary Modern, who were a few years ahead of him.

"After the GCSEs I started work at Thomas Broadbent’s as an apprentice mechanical engineer and did my ONC (Ordinary National Certificate) at Huddersfield Tech as part of the apprenticeship programme.

"Some people I remember from those days are: Graham Siswick, Stuart Baxter, John Wild, Jim Shaw, David Platt, Brian Ditchfield, Ian Bray and Bob Swallow. There were many others.

"Also during those years I played rugby for the Huddersfield C team based at Waterloo. I think the captain’s last name was Druce.

"And I was a keen member of the Huddersfield Road Club (cycling). Having cycled to Huddersfield New College every school day for years I was reasonably fit.

"One memorable ride was cycling to Blackpool and back in the rain, with David Middleton and his friend David Siswick.

"I met my wife, Yvonne Kershaw, now 50 years ago, during the late HNC years. She worked at Rushworth’s in the Dereta boutique department. We were married at Kirkheaton church September 28, 1966 and moved into our first house in Lepton.

"The motivation to go to another country was really stimulated by the senior engineers at Broadbent’s, who frequently travelled to South Africa to install sugar centrifuges for the big sugar growers in Natal.

"So we started casually looking into emigration opportunities for Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa.

"From the feedback we received from all these new exciting opportunities South Africa always seemed to come out on top.

"We applied to emigrate to South Africa, me with my engineering and my wife with her fashion retail experience. To our surprise we were accepted – exciting but also terrifying.

"We thought, ‘Let’s try it. If we don’t like the place we can always come home’.

"Well, we arrived in Cape Town on Christmas day 1968 on the S A Vaal mail-ship and we have enjoyed every minute of our adventure ever since."