This week, with Dennis Mendoros, Foulridge businessman, awarded honorary OBE for services to industry

MEMORY: I was born in the Sudan and my first memory is of going fishing with my father in the Red Sea. It was quite a thrilling experience. We used to go on night fishing expeditions with lights on our boat or in the morning we would trail nets behind.

PET: A small monkey, when I was a child in the Sudan. It wasn't common to have a monkey as a pet but I was fascinated by them and my dad built a small house round a tree for it. The monkey was named Cheetah. She died when I was about nine but we had some good times together.

JOB: I worked as an electrician doing a summer job in Athens when I was 15 or 16. I used to carry out work on domestic electrical appliances, such as extractor fans. You could call it the equivalent of an apprenticeship.

HOME: The first home I bought was back in 1981, a flat in a suburb of Athens called Paradise. It was the marital home.

FRIEND: My first friend was an Italian boy called Elmo, when we lived in the Sudan. We used to go cycling and fishing together. I would love to re-establish contact but I can't remember his second name. We were asked to leave the Sudan in 1968 and I have not returned since, but I hope to go back and take my son Alexander, 18, and daughter Stephanie, 15.

CAR: An MG Magnette, which I bought in Scotland 25 years ago -- and it was 20 years old then! It needed a lot of repairs doing to it but it lasted me about a year and a half.

RECORD: Yellow Submarine by The Beatles. DRINK: As part of our lunch as children we always had a small sip of red wine. My dad used to believe it was the best way to bring up children; you were getting used to it, so you wouldn't go and get drunk. Dad used to believe that taking things in small amounts was good for you.

HOLIDAY: We lived at Port Sudan, the only harbour for the Sudan, and used to drive to different parts of the Sudan for excursions.

BUSINESS VENTURE: I developed a repair scheme for a military engine for an American J79 fighter aircraft and offered it to an American company in California. It boosted my confidence -- and my finances.