I was brought up in a farm on the South Downs and after attending Agricultural College in the late 1960's, I worked on farms before joining the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at an animal disease research centre. My growing interest in family and military history led to a career change in 1987 when I was appointed manager of Newhaven Fort in Sussex, a scheduled monument which I prepared for public opening the following year and continued to manage for fifteen years. Since retiring in 2011, I have developed a range of talks which I give to a wide variety of groups and organisations, including Family/Local History Groups, U3A, Royal British Legion, National Trust Associations, Horticultural Clubs, Probus Clubs, CPRE, National Farmer’s Union, Women's Institutes (accredited speaker for East and West Sussex) and Natural History groups. My talks are regarded as being both informative and entertaining.