About the author:
A Potted History: –
Born in Wolverhampton, I spent much of the late 60s and early 70s then, sporadically, through to 2015, touring, gigging, recording and having a damn good time as a drummer with several rock bands. My passion for wildlife, ornithology in particular, instilled by my folks, gradually asserted itself and saw me set up and run several conservation campaigns in the West Midlands, challenging openly ruinous developments in sites of particular wildlife interest. This led on to my stint as a zoo-keeper in charge of an internationally renowned collection of primates and the successful development of a captive-breeding programme. After leaving this job, I began work as the warden on a wildfowl research project for the Game Conservancy (as it was then) and this led on to me becoming a gamekeeper, eventually ending up managing a game farm in the Cotswolds. It was around this time that I began to write more seriously and got the opportunity to write, develop and guest-present a few radio programmes for the wildlife section at BBC Bristol and with the Farming Programme on BBC television; it was also around this time that I became more deeply involved in the dramatic arts…I know… come on, keep up…!
My return from a sleepy Cotswold village to the urban sprawl that is Wolverhampton put me in charge of developing and running a computer-based, urban wildlife educational programme for inner-city schools working with, and developing the skills of, staff taken mainly from the ranks of ex-offenders, recovering drug addicts and the long-term unemployed.
I had done amateur theatre work, in whatever spare time I had, for a long while as an actor/director and, after the above-mentioned worthy educational project was closed down by the then government, I began to work full time as a technician at a theatre in Wolverhampton. The deep and lasting friendships I made during my 15 years there, friendships that are still part of my life today, stood me in good stead for when I moved to Cornwall and began working as a freelance touring production manager. I took shows all over Europe, eventually ending up as an in-house stage tech in Cornwall. I’ve written fiction since childhood and the move to the deep southwest, where I’m still based, allowed me to spend more time developing my long-fiction capabilities which had kick-started in my Wolverhampton days, and this led to the eventual publication of my first novel, Ladies of the Shire in 2009.
I still go bird watching (I’m a regular at the Hayle estuary and Rinsey Head) and my daily walks, with or without a dog or two, keep me grounded to nature and the countryside.
Right, that’s enough about me, I’d like to know a little about you when you get in touch so, please, visit my Blog on this site and leave a note on the Contact Page. I value the contact and chat. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing from you.
Peter
Peter Webb - Author 