06/06/1954
Born in Cambridge Maternity Hospital on Mill Road.

28/09/1970
Started full time at Cambridgeshire College Of Arts And Technology studying catering for two years. This was a very happy time for me, I loved learning about food preparation and presentation and met some nice friends. My most salient memory though, is drinking Guinness on Parker's Piece (Funnily enough, named after a cook called 'Edward Parker') on a Wednesday afternoon in our free time.

17/07/1972
Began my work at The Bell Inn Aston Clinton. I worked here for four years under chef Jack Dick. It was hard work but I really enjoyed my time here and made many friends, one of whom I worked with at Farlam Hall Hotel up until August 2006. There are links to its web site on the 'Links' page if you fancy some choice food and accommodation.

17/06/1974
The thing I can really say I was pleased about attaining was my driving licence. I hate driving and always have and I only took lessons because my dad kind of pushed me. I failed my test three times and passed on the fourth. No one was more amazed at this than me.

12/03/1976
Started work at Hotel Maritim in Braunlage, West Germany; it was West Germany then but only just, we were right on the East German border which was quite scary when you were skiing. I worked here for just over a year and once again the work was very hard, quite a bit tougher than The Bell but despite this I loved working there. All the staff were very friendly and I had a room in the hotel which was every bit as good as the guests' rooms. I found German tough to learn but picked it up after a fashion although it's over forty years since I have spoken it now and have forgotten most of it. I would have remained in Germany but a friend at The Bell Aston Clinton had opened a hotel in Cumbria with his family and offered me a job there.

15/04/1977
Started work at Farlam Hall Hotel where I remained until August 2006. I was not sure if I'd made the right move when I first moved to the area as I found it very quiet compared to Germany and as I was only twenty-three wasn't really looking for peace. However, after a while I found I preferred this way of life and found when I visited Cambridge and London I was not sorry to return to the tranquility of Cumbria. There is no way I would want to return south again but I have to get my fix of London once or twice a year.

12/08/2006
I left Farlam Hall Hotel and decided to retire. Working until ten o'clock at night was something I no longer wanted to do and I wanted more time to spend with my partner and to see concerts, etc. I am intending to spend at least six weeks a year in France and just please myself for the rest of my life.

10/11/2011
Had a civil partnership with my wonderful other half Stuart; we'd been together thirteen years and decided it was about time plus the law allowed it at last. We had four wonderful days in London and had our great friends, Don and Kerry Taylor as witnesses. Pictures here.

If you want more pictures, then click here or visit the Gallery.

Photography
I love photography but am never completely satisfied with the pictures I've taken. I used to take slides (Kodachrome 64, if you're interested) and out of the three thousand images, I'm pleased with about two or maybe three. One in a thousand or point 1% which isn't a very good success rate. I have gone over to digital now, something I thought I would never do but it has improved so much and of course it's cheap and above all quick and you can crop and alter the images yourself plus send them all over the World for nothing.

Computing
This has to be my favourite pastime. I love the exactness of computers but am still at the early stages at learning about them. I used to do programming in Delphi and got as far as I could go just learning out of books. I think I may start doing it again as I have forgotten a lot of what I learned.

Wine
I like wine very much and when I was younger would drink any type. The cheaper the better, if it didn't burn the back of your throat too much I thought it was good quality. Now I drink wine which is more expensive but enjoy it no more than I did the cheap stuff in the old days. However if I were to sample some of the stuff I was pouring down my throat then, I'm sure I'd hate it. I tend to drink Clarets most of the time and after visiting Bordeaux and sampling some of the better ones I find it difficult to drink anything else, however, I do like some of the Spanish wines for a change too.

Music
I love music. My favourite group is The Smiths, I'm also a big fan of Prince, Beethoven, Mahler, Queen, Elgar, Pink Floyd, Will Young, Paloma Faith and the Stereophonics. I've seen the Stereophonics once and they were wonderful and Will Young twice and he was perfect both times, I don't think he's capable of hitting a duff note. My favourite composer is Mozart and I am working my way through his complete works for about the third time which is making me love his music even more. My favourite opera is The Magic Flute and some of the parts I found hard work to begin with I now love. That often seems to be the way with music for me, the things I like the quickest I end up hating or at least liking the least. I did try to learn to play the piano and the guitar but found them both really difficult so gave up, at least for the time being. I just wish I was one of those chaps that picks things up straight away but I'm afraid it takes me forever to learn the simplest of tasks.

Home Brewing
I’m very much into brewing my own beer and making my own wine. It started with a kit that I got for my forty-seventh birthday; I enjoyed the product so much I tried a number of kits. After that I started buying malt extract and made my own recipes up, the beer was even better. Now however, I mash the malt which I have delivered in twenty-five kilo sacks and then boil it up with the hops. It takes me about twelve hours to make one batch of wort and then a further month before it’s ready to drink. The mashing takes about four hours and the boiling two, the rest of the time is taken up cooling and allowing it to settle. When you taste the beer at the end though it’s worth every minute of the wait.

I haven’t made much wine. I started once again with a kit but now make it with fresh fruit. The only one that’s ready to drink at the moment is the plum which is delicious. I prefer making the beer though.

Cycling
I also like cycling and I managed a lot more now I no longer work. I started off with an old bone shaker which I fell from and broke my elbow and had to take two months off work. I then moved on to a more modern hybrid bike which I never really got used to as it wasn’t quite as fast as my old racing bike. When I achieved my twenty-fifth year at my job they bought me a brand new racing bike which I am using now and I love it. I’m so glad they didn’t get me a clock. I would love to cycle across France to Spain, stopping at small bed and breakfasts on the way and sampling some of the lovely food in the town restaurants. I think if I'm going to do it, it will have to be before I get to sixty as I don't know if I will be wanting to rough it too much at that age.