I was brought up in Manchester and my sports background is in rugby (winning side for both Cambridge & Oxford University Rugby “Blues” at Twickenham & three seasons in the Combined England Students team as well as rugby league) & waterskiing (European Junior champion) before retiring after shoulder and ankle injuries.
My general orthopaedic training was followed by a year in Australia, in the largest sports medicine practice in the Southern Hemisphere & travelling fellowships in the USA & Europe. I was appointed an NHS Consultant Orthopaedic & Sports Injury Surgeon to the Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry in 1998 (a large, thriving and world-famous hospital which was sited in North West Shropshire by the pioneers of Orthopaedic Surgery at the turn of the 20th century) specialising in sports injuries - things like knee cruciate ligament tears & shoulder dislocations. I enjoyed travelling for presentations and lectures at international conferences and had more than 50 academic publications. I am past president of the British Orthopaedic Association's sports trauma society. My team looked after the orthopaedic surgery for very many elite and professional athletes including Manchester City, Wolves & Stoke City Premier League, Sale Sharks Rugby Union, Wigan Warriors, St Helens and Hull FC Superleague teams over several years. I retired in 2021 and now live in the Lake District with my wife who enjoys running up hills.
Although I’ve been taking pictures for half a century including medium format colour home processing back in the ‘70s, I’ve developed a passion for wildlife photography over the last decade. I’ve only been aware of camera clubs, the PAGB & competitions since I joined Wrexham Photographic Society in 2018 & I am now a member and programme secretary in Keswick. I’ve had some success, awarded the Distinction merit of the Photographic Alliance of GB & in competitions including the British Photography Awards, the British Wildlife Photography Awards & was overall winner of both Best Nature Print in the PAGB GB Trophy & the BBC Wildlife Magazine’s photography awards in 2023. Top 3 in the wildlife category, so top 30 overall out of over 650,000 entries into the CEWE Phot Awards 2025, the largest competition in the world. "Highly Honored" in the 30th anniversary "Nature's Best Photography" International Awards - the biggest and most prestigious wildlife competition in the USA with over 20,000 entries.