Exploring My Journey: Interests, Career, Travels, and Family History

Who am I?

After studying chemistry at the University of Strathclyde and then working in the Ministry of Defence in London followed by 7 years as a librarian in what was then the Polytechnic of Wales (now the University of South Wales) I moved to Devon where for many years I was the science and engineering librarian at the University of Exeter. From 2002 onwards I was in charge of the St Luke's campus library in Exeter and was also an honorary fellow of the Peninsula College of Medicine, a new medical school established as a joint venture between the universities of Exeter and Plymouth. (Later on Exeter's medical school became separate from Plymouth's).

Since retiring I have moved back to Wales, the Land of My Fathers, or Hen Wlad fy Nhadau in the words of the Welsh national anthem. As an adult I have learnt Welsh, which was my father's first language, and Danish which was my mother's native tongue and speak both reasonably well even though not as well as a native speaker. I enjoy studying family history, a never ending task, hill walking, and travelling. The photo above shows me taking a rest on a hike up Mount Etna, Europe's highest volcano, in May 2022.

As Etna was erupting intermittently I was not allowed to go all the way to the crater rim. My father did not have that problem in August 1943 when as a soldier in the British 8th Army he climbed to the top with a some of his friends when they had a few free days between the end of the fighting in Sicily and the invasion of the Italian mainland.