I started fishing at Shustoke in 1980 after giving a talk on my research to Coleshill Rotary, my host was the late Bob Spooner a retired Coleshill dentist who insisted that I accompany him one afternoon. Never having fished before, I was surprised to catch a trout but not as surprised as Bob. At that time the tenants were Cambrian Fisheries but a few years later Shustoke Fly Fishers successfully bid for the lease and I signed up as a member.

Exactly when I was asked onto Council eludes me but it was when we still fished the large pool and the membership recruitment relied on word of mouth with the consequence that the Club had declined to just over fifty members and falling. I was invited for the specific purpose of publicity and It took around seven years to pull things together with press releases about our events, open days and having school children along to name but a few enterprises. Most contacts were made by telephone and fax but when e-mailing became ubiquitous, things were easier and my younger son set up a website which was later discontinued but has now been reconstructed; membership closed and a waiting list was started when we reached eighty-four adult members. I became Chairman in April 2008 when Barry Wall resigned and have made sure I am not lumbered with the responsibility into eternity by having the 2011 AGM limit the Chairman's tenure to five years.

My main career interests have centred around laboratory based medical research, I published my first paper in 1957 and my latest has been submitted this year. During the 1950s I spent a few years at University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, working on Salmonella, a major cause of food poisoning and wrote a thesis on typhoid. In 1959 I moved to what I  erroneously thought would be a temporary post at Birmingham General Hospital but stayed there until it closed in 1994. Around 1963 I forged a mutually beneficial, working relationship with the Professor of Chemistry at Aston University which was conveniently placed, just across Lancaster Circus. Later I expanded my contacts and collaborated with other institutions across Europe and beyond. The main thrust of my work was on the metabolism of group of compounds called "pteridines" which include folic acid. I was guest lecturer on many occasions, external examiner for several universities and took a particular interest in vocational training in Africa; in that connection I visited Zimbabwe often and still keep in touch with colleagues there.  My final post was at Birmingham Childrens Hospital where I still hold an honorary position as Senior Clinical Fellow in Clinical Chemistry.

My hobby, apart from fishing and gardening, is woodwork, small furniture, musical instruments and treen; I used to hold exhibitions twice a year but now just make things for myself, Jennifer and take the occasional commission.