When trying to think of a suitable affix for my kennel, I thought long and hard for a name which would last the test of time and was personal to me.

As a young man growing up in a colliery village I wasn’t happy with the thought of working down a pit for evermore.

I was certainly no scholar but thought there must be something else out there. A trip to the careers adviser at my local comprehensive school and I was sorted. I am going to be a “COMMANDO”. All nine stone of me. I may have lacked a few A levels, but was never short of determination.

Six months later I was sat on a train for the first time in my life, heading south towards Devon. Home of the Royal Marines Commando Training centre. LYMPSTONE.

They say 99.9% of people need not apply; every day for the next year I wished I was one of them.

All together I spent the next nine years travelling the world and managed to reach the dizzy heights of substantive corporal. As any genuine Royal Marine will tell you, Lympstone is a special place and everyone has their own story to tell.

Now it’s the Wileman family kennel name. I look forward to producing and exhibiting quality English Springer Spaniels, and having some fun along the way.