Cliff Mewett has lived on the Sussex Coast all his life. He was born in Hastings in 1946, where he attended Hastings Grammar School, before embarking on a career split between the Prudential and the Post Office. On leaving school he spent three years in the Queens Regiment, TAVR before being commissioned into the RAF VR (T). He married Marion in 1973 and they have two daughters. Apart from local history his other interest revolves round a collection of British motorcycles and a classic MG.