I taught local history and palaeography for the Centre for Continuing janet penningtonEducation at the University of Sussex for many years, and was archivist at Lancing College. I am a past chairman and council member of the West Sussex Archives Society, a life member of the Sussex Archaeological Society and Hon. President of the Brighton & Hove Archaeological Society. I am also a past president and council member of the Wealden Buildings Study Group. I was a guided walks leader for West Sussex County Council for many years, and a member of their Library and Archives Committee. I am a Friend of The Keep Archives, a member of the Sussex Family History Group and a former council member of the Sussex Record Society.

I am a member of the Regional Furniture Society and on the committee of the Steyning History Society.

My MA dissertation is about the Elizabethan owner of Wiston House, near Steyning; my PhD on Sussex inns and taverns means that I have been in more pubs than most people, mainly for research purposes. (Thesis) – Hard copies of my thesis The Inns and Taverns of Western Sussex, 1550-1700 : a regional study of their architectural and social history  can be found locally at Sussex Archaeological Society Library, Lewes; University of Chichester Library; University of Southampton Library; West Sussex Record Office, Chichester; Worthing Library, Local Studies Section and at Steyning Museum or online.

I have published many articles in historical journals. The research for Chanctonbury Ring: The Story of a Sussex Landmark (2011) kept me very fit. It is available through local bookshops and libraries. I am revising the book for a second edition.

I am an active member of the Wealden Buildings Study Group and an historian of the Wiston Estate. I undertake pub and house histories, and particularly enjoy applying documents to landscape and buildings. I give illustrated talks on Sussex history all round the county; some of my talks are more general, such as those on travel, the history of the small shop and the ritual protection of the home.