About Me

I live in the Swanlow area of Winsford in the very heart of Cheshire and am descended of a family that has lived in the Northwich district, especially the parish of Davenham, for several hundred years. I have three adult sons, two of whom live in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and the other in Harrogate, Yorkshire.

Although of a Cheshire family I grew up in Flixton, near Manchester, and attended the Wellacre Secondary School. I started life as an apprentice draughtsman working for a company in Sale, Cheshire, but then for thirty years I served the people of Cheshire as an officer with the Cheshire Constabulary. On retiring in 1998 I worked as a Community Safety Co-ordinator with Vale Royal Borough Council until April 2007. I was appointed as a Justice of the Peace in 2007 and sat on the South & East Cheshire Bench at both Crewe and Macclesfield Magistrates Courts: I retired from the Bench in December 2016 having reached the statutory age for retirement.

Since my school days I have had a passionate interest in the history of my home county. My interests resulted in obtaining a B.A. in History (Manchester, 1991) and an M.A. in Local History (Keele, 1994). Over the years I have taught classes on local history research, detecting family history and heraldry at a number of adult educational establishments. Having now retired from a professional life in public service, I now spend much of my time researching local history, heraldry and genealogy. I am a regular speaker/lecturer to local history and similar societies. I have written many articles and a few books on various aspects of Cheshire history. 

 As well as being a member of a number of academic societies in the region, I have completed  two three-year terms as chair of the Cheshire Local History Association and am now a member of its Executive Committee. I was also chairman of the Winsford & District History Society for many years. During the 1990s I wrote and edited a short series of the Winsford History Society’s publications: The Winsford Record. For several years I was Chairman of  the Northwich Heritage Society and am still a member of the committee.