About me

I was born in Farnham, Surrey and with both parents being also from the South of England I am a true 'Southerner'. I spent some years of my childhood in Lincolnshire and went to school in a little rural village called Legsby. We moved to Norfolk following my dad's job with the Forestry Commission and I went to Thetford Grammar School for seven years.

After this I succeeded in gaining a place to study Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge ( Selwyn College). It is a beautiful city and a great place to study. I had time to do some music as well as all the lectures and practicals (chemistry, materials science and physics), and also played in the College Chess Team.

In my final year I did a project on synthesis of spirocyclic compounds using allyl-stannanes with Dr. I Fleming (of Spectroscopic Methods fame). This involved dissolving sodium into liquid ammonia, and adding butyl-lithium, but I have survived to tell the tale. The chemical Laboratories are a great place to study, but there's no canteen! Fortunately there is a good variety of sandwich bars and takeaways in the nearby city streets, and everyone has a bike. I also did a PGCE in Cambridge which took me an extra year. This gave me the opportunity to be in Kent, teaching in the Judd Grammar School in Tonbridge.

In 1995 I began a Ph.D. at the University of Surrey, details of which are given elsewhere. This has brought me back to my home-land, and I really like living here in Surrey.

I am now working in Godalming just South of Guildford in the North Downs: some lovely countryside. With a great will (and a little help from the folks, ahem!) I have managed to get a mortgage on a superb little cottage in Farncombe, about three miles South of Guildford. It is right next to the main Portsmouth - London railway line, but I get excercise by cycling to Guildford for bellringing whenever the weather is fine enough. Anyone who knows Farncombe also knows that it is Cat City. This means that gardening is fraught with unearthing little presents, so I have an elaborate system of twigs and strings to keep Kittys and Toms off my vegetable plants each spring.