Flickr: catrionatv

At about five feet two I am not exactly tall, and, at just over 9 st. fit nicely into a size 12 dress, I have brown eyes and similar color hair, although this tends to vary as I prefer darker wigs, of which I have several. I am a part time TV, and although I prefer a tarty look, with short skirts, stockings etc, I can dress for style and sophistication if called for.

A regular member of the Stilettos and Mayflower groups, I am single, with my own home and a secure phone line. I like to meet other like minded Tv/Ts/Tg for some occasional fun, NOTE; this does not include hairy blokes, beards, or casual unconvincing cds! I like to chat, about almost anything, and have a good, if slightly weird, sense of humour.

Other hobbies include naval history, model making, photography (especaly naughty pics!) I read a lot, and am good at fixing vintage and classic cars, in which field I worked for many years and raced a classic MG for nearly 20 seasons.

I have quite a good wardrobe and always try to look convincing, although not always as well as I would wish, and can, to an extent, also give help and advice to those who are just starting or need help with make-up etc. I am a single 62 year old TV living in Winchester, Hampshire, UK (12 miles North of Southampton on the South Coast of England).

I have always had a feeling that I was more female than male and during my late teens and early twenties occasionally tried dressing in female clothes. As I was adopted by my grandparents (A strict non-conformist minister and an old fashioned school mistress) this was extremely difficult as you will appreciate.

I rejected this side of my persona several times, and gave up completely aged about 25. Following the death of my grandfather in 1988 I moved into the house where I now live, and after a couple of years living on my own I gradually started dressing again. The thing that finally activated the trip-switch so-to-speak was a visit to the Philbeach Hotel in London, which as many of you will probably know was, until its closure last January, the leading gay and trans hotel in the capital.

At the time I did not know about this, I just need a hotel near the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, so you can imagine my surprise when I walked into the bar and found myself surrounded by a group of exceedingly pretty transsexuals! The upshot was that I suddenly realised that there were other people that felt like me, and within a couple of hours I had made several friends there (Thanks Girls!).

Within a few weeks I had got myself some reasonable clothes and was back at the hotel on a Monday night (which was 'Lipstick' night) and for the first time was dressed in public. I clearly remember that first night, emerging from the second floor room, walking down the stairs past reception to the basement shaking like a leaf!

Once there I had the make-up done for the first time ever, and Ann, who ran the make-up studio, gave me a basic lesson as she applied it and boosted my confidence no end. From there I went to the bar for a much needed drink, and I was asked what my name was, oddly enough I had never even thought of a femme name, but I had a quick answer handy. I was working at that time for a company that supplied vintage cars for weddings, and the previous Saturday had driven a beautiful Italian girl called Catriona to her wedding (in a 1926 Cadillac convertible) and I sort of 'borrowed' the name.

That was in 2002, and from there on life has been a happy upward curve, I soon found others in my local area, and a reasonable local club (Mayflower) which had 2 meetings a month, 1 a disco, and started going regularly to their meetings as Catriona, as well as popping up to London when I could. I enjoy my time as Cat, but have did not come out at work, and only a few, selected, friends who know me as John also know about Cat, no problems so far!

I have thought seriously about hormone treatment, and SRS but, as I have just reached my sixties, surgery, and the cost and time involved make it unrealistic, and I am happy as I am, becoming Cat at home in the evenings and for visits to the local Mayflower and Stilettos club meets, and occasional outings with a few other T girls, to relatively safe locations and the occasional photo session in the New Forest, a picturesque part of Hampshire which is only a few miles from here.

I also joined Roses, a International T group a few years ago, and have made many good friends via their chatroom, which I am in on most late (GMT) evenings, and discovered Rainbow Lounge last year, I do try to get into their Chatroom when I can, although the difference between GMT and EST tends to mean that I miss the time when most people probably use it!.

I am a motor mechanic by trade, working mainly on classic and vintage cars which has included restoration of several 1920s and later Rolls Royce’s plus a fair number of MGs, (I raced an MGB for almost 20 years). Other interests include naval history, I have written 4 books so far on the history of various ships and another 2; HMS Onslow and HMS Norfolk are in progress.

I am not working at present, due to an arm injury, but hoping to find something suitable in the near future, at least this leaves me lots of time to enjoy the dressing, and the writing!

I did not want to have to add this, but please, ff you select any of my photo's as a favourite, please leave a comment, I recently had someone who added several of my photos as favourites, which is very flattering, but left no comments, and, on looking at their photostream I found they had no profile or photos of their own, just some 6,000 favourites! I do not want to block anyone, that is not what I feel Flickr is about, but please be polite, and if you use a picture as a favourite, please leave a comment!