A Bit about Me

I'm a 41 year old expatriate Londoner and have lived in Manchester since 1974, when I started at the University here to study Classics, and spent a lot of time shooting target rifle, playing bridge and generally having a good time in between studying. After I graduated in 1977, I joined the Greater Manchester Police and moved to Bury, where I've lived ever since. I am currently a Sergeant in the North Manchester Division where I provide IT support for the Division, and create databases for divisional departments.

I got involved in computers in the early 1980's and in computer comms in 1988, when I acquired a super-fast 1200 baud modem and started downloading 700k of compressed mail a day from a BBS in Bolton [Hi Dave]! I soon tired of this and created my own system, The Pig Pen, which ran from 1990 to 1996 when I closed it because I had little time to maintain it any more. I started using the Internet in 1992, mainly as a result of the birth of CommUnity, the Computer Communicators' Association.

Having been a confirmed bachelor for a long time, my defences finally fell in 1991 when I met Naomi in the electronic pub otherwise known as the FidoNet echo COMMON-ROOM. After a whirlwind e-romance we eventually got together and the rest is history. Naomi & I were married in April 1995.

My interests outside of computers include Sailing, Contract Bridge, Photography, Caravanning, Canals, Snooker & Clapton (the guitarist, not the resort!). I used to play bridge competitively at tournaments all around the UK, but find that too time-consuming now and play entirely online at BridgeBase Online, the best online Bridge server operated by Fred Gitelman.