About John
About John
First, let me introduce Delilah.
I bought her with the money I’d saved up from six months working on the railway prior to my entry to Art college. I include her because she was the finest horse I’ve ever had. Perfect in every respect! Never kicked, never bit me, always complied with every requirement I had of her, and I must have had dozens of horses in my time. I had her for some five years before she became chronically lame and I very wrongly swapped her away with a shady dealer for another horse.
Born in 1938, John was educated at Shoreham Grammar School in Sussex, and, right from his earliest days there, he became fascinated by the history of Shoreham (Hamlet by the Shore) and the beauty of the adjoining Adur Valley – in his opinion, an area of outstanding natural charm with its winding river which estuaries at Shoreham and meanders north up towards the ancient and quaint village of Bramber.
Shoreham proved the stimulus for a number of his paintings, such as The Adur in Autumn and Wintertime in the Adur – both of which appear on this website. But perhaps what attracted him most was the church of St Mary de Haura near the school. He felt an immediate affinity with its Norman and early-English architecture. Built of mellow stone and flint, it seemed to give an impression of having grown from the earth rather than being built. It blended so naturally with its surroundings and inspired him to record it on many occasions – one of which can also be viewed on this website.
After Grammar School, John was awarded the Art Teacher's diploma by the then Brighton College of Art. This was followed by twenty-five years teaching at secondary level, during which time he was seconded to Reading University where he gained the Advanced Diploma in Education. Finally, in 1976, at Manchester University, he secured his master's degree.
John spent the first thirty years of his life at home with his parents in their corner shop property in Gordon Road, Portslade, East Sussex, and this became the setting for his first novel, Beyond the Cattle Arch, which is now available.
John left education in his mid-forties and built a property portfolio with his late wife. Then, at seventy, he handed over the business to his son and turned his hand to writing.
Probably the man he most admired just happened to be his father whose portrait can also be seen on this website and who became the subject of his yet to be published novel, Sergeant Jack.
A wide and varied life has contributed greatly to the backdrop of his venture into writing and he has drawn extensively on his experience of horse-riding and ballroom dancing – the latter of which he took to competition level.
Currently in his later years, John lives happily in a mid-Sussex village with his wife and two of his children.