About Us
STORYTELLER
We all tell stories as we go through life, I tell them for enjoyment and to earn a living as well. I have told stories and given talks to groups of all ages and abilities for over thirty years. From 2024 this aspect has increased to include singing, music hall and traditional songs, reading monologues and even some basic magic, look out world the variety show ala Malcolm could be coming to a place near you.
I have told stories in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire, London and beyond. I have told in schools, libraries, village halls, in parks and country parks as well as nature reserves, in gardens, in barns, in front rooms, in museums indoor and even outdoors. Told lots of times outdoors actually look on YouTube. From the humblest of spaces to festivals of all sizes, the dining hall yes the dining hall of Kings College Cambridge, the O2 Arena and in 2023 Ely Folk Festival.
Stories are wonderful, made up of words told in so many ways that can transport the listener to another world, time or place. Stories can thrill us, scare us, make us think or make us laugh. Stories can contain light and dark, joy and hate as well as love and peace. There is nothing more enjoyable than bringing stories to life for people through the medium of words spoken with feeling and emotion.
My stories reflect my interests and can be about the environment, the history of a place, be about people or just about anything . I can tell you well known stories or bits of folklore, I can tell stories created with groups or tell any combination to suit the event the place and the audience. If I have one set of stories I love it has to be stories of Cambridgeshire, the Fens and East Anglia, but any story I read or hear and like and can enjoy and relate too is bound to be retold at some time, be it a bit of Cambridgeshire folklore, a Greek myth or a Grimms folktale.
I am a member of Equity (M00312222) as well as the Society for Storytelling and Cambridge Storytellers. I have also been awarded the title of Suffolk Skald.
For an idea of what stories I tell to groups look at the list of shows below;
Fenland Tales, Cambridgeshire Tales, Tales of Country Folk, Ghost Stories, Animal Stories, Fairytales as the brothers Grimm wrote them, Tales of Black Dogs and other mythical animals, English Hero Tales. I must also not forget a special story, that of dear old Nancy the Waterman either, a show originally performed with a good friend , I now perform it by myself and after one show was told, "it was better than Dennis of Grunty Fen". If you dont know Dennis look him up ont tinterweb. I also occasionally write my own stories that are inevitably about the countryside and folklore.
Any show can be modified for example Cambridgeshire Tales can be Suffolk or Norfolk or even Essex, the list goes on..........and could well become a page in its own right.
Field Ecologist
My work as a field ecologist usually sees me working on pieces of land that are to be developed in one way or another. Whether that land is to become housing or part of a road or whatever, its important that the wildlife there is known about and taken account of in any plans.
I have worked in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire on various projects.
I am licensed to work with Great Crested Newts and also work with other amphibians and reptiles. In addition I carry out surveys of birds both breeding and wintering and various land based mammals.
I have experience of acting as a Clerk of Works on a number of projects and can communicate with staff at all levels from digger drivers to site managers to developers.
I am a member of the Countryside Management Association as well as national and local environmental groups covering birds, mammals as well as reptiles and amphibians. in addition to employed survey work I also carry out a number of surveys as a volunteer to maintain my skills and experience.
Gardener
I offer a garden maintenance service to a number of regular and one off clients. My work is primarily for older clients .
I work in gardens weekly fortnightly or just a couple of times a year depending on what is required and needed. I work in courtyard gardens, cottage gardens, vegetable gardens and everything in between to suit my clients.
I work in gardens in the Cambridge and Newmarket area.
I work in gardens weekly fortnightly or just a couple of times a year depending on what is required and needed. I work in courtyard gardens, cottage gardens, vegetable gardens and everything in between to suit my clients.
I work in gardens in the Cambridge and Newmarket area.
Given my working history in parks of all types and gardens , it is not surprising that I am also a Green Flag Judge. The Green Flag scheme is similar to Blue Flag for good beaches except its a system to monitor the condition and management of parks.
As with Blue Flag it is administered by Tidy Britain and seeks to raise standards of parks and green spaces. In practise this means that every year I judge a number of parks against the nationally adopted criteria for how they are managed and how they appear. Thankfully most of our parks and country parks are in good order and long may it stay so.