Tell us about your career path since graduation. How did you end up where you are? 

After graduation, I studied PGCE at Madeley College of Education (University of Keele) for 1 year. In September 1972 I became Assistant Master in French at The King's School in Cheshire. From the mid 1980s, I took on additional responsibility for overseeing the organization of all external examinations at the school. I left The King's School in 1996 and took up part-time lecturing (French and First World War studies) at Warwickshire College. I retired from lecturing position in 2008. Whilst still lecturing, in 1998, started guiding school (for NST - Northern School Travel) and adult parties to the Battlefields of the WW1 and WW2 in Northern France, Belgium and Normandy. I’ve continued to do this, while also co-authoring four books on WW1. I’m currently working on a fifth volume about commemorative memorials post WW1 in the UK. For the WW1 Centenary years, I also participated and featured in 3 BBC 1 Songs of Praise productions.  

What was it about your time at Royal Holloway that has most benefitted your career or influenced your path since graduation? 

I benefitted from superb lecturers, who inspired me to delve deeper into my subject and to get involved in research. The one-to-one tutorials expanded my understanding of literary works and taught me to seek accuracy and objectivity in my profession and own work. My interest in the historical background of Royal Holloway College, as it was known then, influenced me in my future guiding pursuits and ultimately in my writing. My quirky nature was satisfied by the fact that I sat my finals in the Art Gallery opposite the painting "Man Proposes, God Disposes" by Landseer, which was bedecked with a Union Flag!  

What would you say to potential students considering studying at Royal Holloway? / What advice would you give to students thinking about a career in your sector? 

Enjoy studying whilst embracing the opportunities offered at such an academic institution and take time to pursue your interests without forgetting that the surrounding areas, such as Runnymede, are steeped in history.  

What did you love most about your time at Royal Holloway? / What's your favourite memory of Royal Holloway? 

I remember with great fondness the hours that I spent in the Old Library, often there until closing time and having to sign out at the Porter's Lodge in Founders at 10pm! The same porters took me on their late-night rounds to experience the building at night and to explore the attics at Founders. I recall with mirth the plopping sounds made by the frogs in the water tanks there!