Barrie Skelcher was born on June 13, 1932 in Birmingham, UK.  His parents were Ivy and Frank Skelcher. He grew up loving being in the Scouts, and getting involved in activities such as camping.  He loved to tell us the story of when he was making home made fireworks in his Dad's garage, and managed to blow the vice apart!!  It was a childhood spent roaming the outdoors, we used to pity his poor mum when he told us stories about never coming home during daylight hours - she never knew where he was. 

He wrote about his schooldays in Birmingham in his book, My Life With the Nuclear Industry, he was not always the best scholar - his spelling always remained original throughout his life - but he qualified as a physicist and went on to work at Dounreay and Sizewell A and B.