History in Words

Andrea and I first met in Howard's grandfathers’ workshop in Staunton in Nottinghamshire as young school children and then didn't meet up until in our teens at a family event where Howard's aunty and Andreas god mother Carol Drury reunited them. Following an engagement, they married and moved to Edinburgh where Howard took up a job as a student at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.

Upon completing the course with Honours, I was offered jobs in Cumbernauld and Birmingham and chose the job of training officer with Birmingham Council's Parks and Recreation department as it would be nearer our families in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.

I was based in Kings Heath Park and quickly got to know about a gardening television programme that was being made in a corner of the garden by ATV with Cyril Fletcher and Bob Price as hosts. Sadly Bob Price died in 1984 from prostate cancer, and I was asked to undergo a trial as a presenter.

I enjoyed the next 11 years researching, presenting and helping to edit what was Gardening Today and later became Gardening Time. It took me to many places and I met fascinating gardeners and those associated with the industry. Unfortunately our audience was the wrong profile, and we were axed in 1995 in spite of very healthy viewing figures.

Around the same time Birmingham Council wanted huge numbers of staff to take redundancy, our parks department was to be cut drastically with staff such as myself offered jobs in other departments. It was suggested I moved to social services, I declined and took redundancy along with hundreds of others.

From 1995 to the present day, I have been self-employed doing many different tasks. I continue to this day to give advice, talks and lectures all over the country. I have been giving advice for more than 25 years at Ashwood Nurseries on a Sunday until the outbreak of Covid-19. Although now past retiring age, I continue to enjoy working but find time for my hobby, which of course is gardening.

I have led many holiday groups to destinations around the Uk and as far a field as Switzerland, Holland and even New Zealand on three occasions. I also offer groups and clubs day trips in  and around the Midlands.

In recent years I have collected numerous plant genera and to date have almost 200 different variegated zonal pelargoniums and hundreds of different succulents, including huge collections of Aeoniums and Echeveria in 4 recently erected second hand Robinson Royale greenhouses.

Our son James married Claire some years ago and live very locally with their two sons, Leo and Ryan.

We also spend time (prior to Covid-19 with my sister in Penzance as we gradually slow down a little in our old age.