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Biography:
Born in 1944 in Beeston, Notts, my early life was dominated by a trek round the country as my father improved his foundryman's skills and our family's welfare. Believing myself to be something of a nomad by the time I was twelve, I had lived [and attended schools] in Wolverhampton [Staffs.], Peterborough [Northants], Stroud [Glos.] and finally, in 1956, Liversedge [West Yorkshire.] So the Heavy Woollen District became my home, and my roots became firmly implanted in the rich, brass-ridden muck of the so-called Shoddy Towns of Batley and Dewsbury.
Not having been born a Yorkshireman, I did my adolescent best to convince anyone whom I might meet that I was, in fact, a native of "God's Own County" and, dare I say it, with some measure of success. I learned the language, talked the talk and walked the walk of a dyed-in- the-blood Shoddy Town lad, such that nowadays, I am readily taken for a native of Batley/Dewsbury/Heckmondwike/Cleckheaton!
A plod through the very traditional Batley Grammar School during the 50's and 60's provided me with 6 GCE Ordinary Level passes and three A levels, along with a fertile stock of life-enhancing tales to tell. More importantly, perhaps, my Sixth Form form-master revealed to me [and one or two of my pals] that we were not bright enough to attend university, so "...you'd better go to college and become teachers..."
Accepting such learned Oxford University educated advice, that's exactly what we did. I attended Goldsmiths' College, London, met a lot of new people, played a great deal of football and came out of it in 1966 as a qualified teacher.
Of course, for me, there was only one place in which I wanted to teach. At a time when jobs in teaching grew on trees, I returned to the Shoddy Towns, where I had the choice of several posts. My first was at Batley Boys' High School; my second was at Earlsheaton High School, Dewsbury, where I remained for the rest of my enjoyable career.
Always one for a bit of fun, I established a reputation as a bit of a classroom raconteur. I subscribed to the view that if children are laughing and enjoying themselves within the prison-walls of the classroom, then it is likely that they are learning at the same time. There were always classroom opportunities for a laugh or a tale, and, career-wise, this stood me in good stead. I completed my time before the educational mast as Deputy Headteacher with a host of friends amongst the pupils and the teaching fraternity.
"Up the Snicket" was written and revised between 1996 and 1998 and finally published in 2001. I am currently giving talks to local groups about the book. As a result, I have been able to trip off again down memory lane, recalling the days of my school assemblies which have become legend in the locality. My weekly ego-trip which masqueraded as "assembly" provided me with a very satisfying adrenalin-charge as pupils laughed at my tales. I am currently working on my next collection, entitled "Down the Ginnel".
