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Here's a little about me.....
I live in England, which, due to Brexit, is currently a satellite nation off the coast of Europe!
I have published twelve books,
Five of them are biographical and comprise the 'At Large' series.
Three cover our years living on boats, and two about my 'ordeals on wheels' on an e-bike.
And in July 2024 an Omnibus collection of stories and tales.
My cycling adventures on an e-bike complement our 12 wonderful years cruising the inland waterways of the UK and Europe, first in Narrowboats then on an old Dutch Barge. Boats and bicycles have been interwoven throughout my life, I love both.
There are also three published novels. Operation Vegetable, Flawed Liaisons and Twice Removed..
I have recently published the third book in my Gods, Mortals and Mutts series. They are (loosely) based in my home town of Littleborough, Northern England.
The first is The Boro. Published in December 2022. It is an autobiographical account of my return to my home town of Littleborough (middle England). I left in reasonable condition but came back thirty years later with dicky hips and diabetes. A late middle-aged duffer trying to come to terms with a changed, modern world proves to be a frustrating experience!
The second and most recent is called Let's be Frank. It is written by a dog called, surprisingly, Frank and it's his view of our crazy world.
The third is called Gods, Mortals and Mutts. Just released!
The Creator appraises planet earth's progress since it's birth about 4 billion years ago. Daft stuff - but fun!
The truth is that it took till well into my sixth decade to have something worth writing about. Previously I could have written about all my business successes, but that could be covered in one sentence, phrase even.
I could rave on and on about my sporting achievements - that's another dozen words!
It was only when we took the ludicrous decision to take to the water that anything of vague interest surfaced.
In some respects, writing about our own adventures is more difficult than making something up from scratch. When you create characters and situations you are unrestrained, limited only by your imagination (which in my case is a bit of a problem). Writing about me and my wife I have to work within testing parameters, such as telling the truth.
We spent twelve years living on boats. On two narrowboats we trundled round the waterways in the UK and on our 110-year-old Dutch barge we did our best to destroy he infrastructure in Holland, France and Belgium. We saw some extraordinary places and met many wonderful people, some of whom were prepared to speak to us. In fact, looking back, the whole things seems like a warm and wonderful dream.
At school, frankly, studies didn't go too well. Stupidly I preferred to propel different shaped balls around with various implements, like hands and feet. An educational own goal if ever there was one.
I was a baker for ten years, then worked for a company organising sports events, mainly golf and cricket.
Jan and I both lived in Littleborough, Lancashire for thirty years but we'd never met till I ruined her chances at a quiz night when I joined her team – and the rest is history (or science and nature, or sport...).
We moved to Shropshire, to a hamlet just north of Shrewsbury, in 1995. It was a dark period in our lives when Jan was dangerously ill and we needed a positive change to make us look forward. The two of us, plus our new rescue dog, Bonny, hid ourselves away and worked like crazy while Jan fought her battle. Through her courage, and a bit of luck maybe, she endured, thank goodness.
We renovated a house, sold it and moved onto our first narrowboat in 2003 having bought the shell and fitted all the inside out ourselves. I wrote monthly articles for Canal Boat Magazine while we travelled around the UK. After I was sacked for an 'editorial misunderstanding' I had to find another outlet for my itchy fingers.
The result is my books.
Amazingly and humblingly (I'd be surprised if that word got past the editor.... oh, it has) people have said nice things about them.
Throughout our years living on boats we experienced much - some funny, some frightening, some humbling. The three boat-related books are wonderful reminders of the times we've had – maybe they'll inspire you to try something different.p0
Need a Speaker? We give talks (with slide-show) on our boating experiences. Proceeds to two charities close to our hearts.
Health Matters. An honest chronicle of my Struggle with Type 2 Diabetes and a nasty blocked artery.
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