I was born in Shoreham, Sussex, England in 1950. At the age of eight, I went to the British Seamens' Boys' Home at Brixham in South Devon, where I remained until I left school in 1966. The home, famous throughout Devon, was originally founded as a haven for orphaned sons of British sailors. In the early fifties, a decision was taken to accept boys from single parent circumstances, as there were fewer orphans needing care. Life at the home was conducted under British Royal Navy protocol, and boys were groomed for future service at sea. However, a career in the Royal Navy was by no means compulsory, and there was total freedom to follow a career of choice.

Discipline was strictly enforced, and participation in Home's drum and bugle band was mandatory. I learned to play the bugle soon after joining, and by the time I had reached the age of fifteen, I had attained the position of lead bugler. This carried the prestige of a silver bugle and shoulder sash. Some of my most abiding memories stem from visiting various Churches on Remembrance Day to play the "Last Post" and "Reveille." The band would also perform at a variety of soccer matches, fetes, carnivals and garden parties, in addition to our regular Sunday morning church parade.

At the age of eleven, I was fortunate enough to gain admission to Homelands Technical High School in nearby Torquay. English was the subject that I enjoyed the most, and I will always be grateful to have been tutored by some very dedicated teachers during my five years at Homelands.

During my years at the Home, I developed a passion for engines. The Home had two motor-boats and a diesel engine used to pump seawater to fill the swimming pool. I was involved in helping to maintain all of these. I was averse to the coarse blue serge material of the Royal Navy uniform and found it very uncomfortable to wear, particularly when wet. Because of this I resolved to follow a civilian career and when I left Brixham at the age of sixteen, I trained to become a diesel engine fuel injection specialist.

I had a spell in the British Army, followed by complete break from my trade when, in 1978, I spent thirteen years in the field of water supply and treatment. I emigrated to New Zealand in 1991, once again returning to the fuel injection trade.

 

After seventeen years I have just recently retired from full-time work and live in the suburb of Torbay on Auckland’s North Shore with my beautiful wife Margaret who constantly supports and encourages me and to whom I owe so much. My son Ryan is now 24. He is currently working  studying to enter the field of IT security. My other son Christopher lives near Southampton, England with his son Alastair and wonderful partner Heidi.

I have an intense dislike of all cruelty, especially to children and animals, and I get really dismayed and even angered by man's ever increasing inhumanity to his fellow man, as depicted daily on television news. I enjoy most sports, motorsport in particular. Over the last few years, again thanks to Margaret,  I have been learning to read music and get a lot of enjoyment from playing my Technics organ.

I feel that poetry is a great way of communicating with people of like-minded spirit. I have never been a “performance poet” but I do admire some of those such as New Zealand’s own Sam Hunt.  I am content just to write and let others do the interpretation. In many ways, I think a poem is similar to a painting. Unlike a novel, it usually takes only minutes to read, yet the impressions conveyed can linger in the memory like a vision.

Over the years, I have learned many lessons the hard way. Through this has come a greater understanding of what are commonly referred to as old-fashioned moral values; the values of trust, loyalty, true friendship and, above all, love which I think is the greatest of all our emotions, and I have tried to reflect its power in much of my poetry.


My favourite classic poets are Lord Byron and Rudyard Kipling. Kipling's poem "If" says it all for me. I constantly refer to it, either for inspiration or in times of hardship. Byron's mastery of language also inspires me when I am searching for a semantic illustration.

 

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