Born in Liverpool and now resident in Manchester with a background in engineering. He trained as a teacher of Design and Technology and taught in comprehensive schools for 40 years. Always had an interest in preservation and started to restore internal combustion engines but moved on the commercial vehicles and then fire appliances. This in turn led to an involvement with HCB -Angus and the creation of an archive of their activities. The closure of the company in 1993 lead to this becoming more important so as not to lose the historical record. The author has owned four fire appliances, all built by HCB Angus.
