Who am I?

You may already know me through my very successful “Save Rock Park Bridge (Barnstaple)” campaign, or my current “North Devon Pothole Community” initiative protesting at the appalling state of our highways network and the extremely inefficient, ineffective and wasteful Devon Highways organisation created by Devon County Council. You may know me from years ago for my active involvement in the charitable work of the Barnstaple Rotary Club, because of my involvement with the Barnstaple Allotment Association, or through my years of volunteering in the Cancer Research shop in Barnstaple. It is also possible that you know me through my Facebook group “Celebrating North Devon (in Photograph)”, or even my 1991 aid trip to Ukraine and Moldova as they emerged from under soviet repression. But whether you know me or not, I hope that you’ll at least do me the courtesy of reading this short introduction.

Having settled in Barnstaple more than 37 years ago, I’m happy to call North Devon my home even though it has changed and developed a great deal since I arrived in 1987. My daughter and son were both born at the North Devon District Hospital and grew up in Barnstaple, with both now living nearby with families of their own; so that gives me a very strong incentive to strive for the betterment of North Devon, my adopted home.

And it is my intention, as I get nearer my formal retirement years, to devote my time and energy to improving things for the wider community, particularly Barnstaple and North Devon, but also the Torridge area. My education and training has given me an enquiring and analytical mind, and my years of senior management experience has equipped me with a good understanding of the way that public sector organisations operate and the mindset of many people that work in that sector. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I agree with the way that things are, because the public sector is surely its own worst enemy, with entrenched attitudes (institutional thinking) and the seeming inability to think creatively (outside the box). It is these traits, together with the lack of transparency and general obfuscation that expose our councils to ridicule and charges of cronyism, nepotism the suspicion of corruption, and downright incompetence.

And worse still, it is abundantly evident that some of our elected representatives (to both tiers of local government and partner organisations) - those who are entrusted with the direction and oversight of our councils, are overly political, loosing the sense of the tremendous privilege of serving on behalf of the community. It is also clear that some lack any real practical experience, and are a detriment rather than an asset to our community.

So ‘having got stuck into’ Devon County Council Highways with my very successful ‘Save Rock Park Bridge (Barnstaple)’ campaign, my current ‘North Devon Pothole Community’ campaign affects a much wider community along with the social injustice being wrought by Devon County Council highways-related policies. I intend to strive for a transparent, more efficient, effective and better value-for-money delivery of Highways services, as well as better service in other higher-tier authority functions. And push for much better levels of communication between the ‘out of touch’ inhabitants of County Hall and our local community.

Then, maybe it’ll be time to get stuck into the fog of mystery and obfuscation within North Devon Council. After all, who knows what is lurking within the murky depths of local politics?☹️

  • Having had a fascination with electronics since my teenage years, I was privileged to begin my early career in Electronics and Communications with the then Plessey Company Limited in their Defence division. Following that excellent engineering foundation, I moved to a company within the American-owned Courtaulds group as an electrical and electronics maintenance engineer where I later sustained a serious injury to my lower back, which resulted in me leaving their employ.

    Despite this injury, and with the help of the Consultant Surgeon who was instrumental in helping me walk again, I succesfully applied for a grant-funded Research Assistant position to a Professor at the Nuffield Institute for Medical Research at Oxford University (based at the John Radcliffe Hospital). My studies continued at Oxford College/Oxford Polytechnic, and the small research team in which I worked developed digital interfaces (mainly using the ubiquitous 8-bit 6502 microprocessor), for some of the early clinical ultrasound equipment, as well as data-logging systems for experimental use. I was offered the chance to relocate to work with a research team in Portland, Oregon, USA, and often wondered what might have been ????

    Grant funding (joint Medical Research Council and Wellcome Foundation) for my post came to an end about the same time as I was due to get married, and I then secured a staff position at the Oxford University Computing Service in order to support my wife and obtain a mortgage. Here, I worked alongside other engineers and with a major contractor to install a telephone and data network connecting over 4000 points across the city-wide campus that is Oxford University (Fun fact: Spot the cast steel manhole covers in the streets throughout Oxford labelled OUTN) and to the wider academic community via the Joint Academic Network (Janet).

    In May 1987, we moved to Barnstaple after a personal tradegy, where I took a job with a local manufacturing company. This proved to be a rather turbulent period for the company and after 22 difficult months, I accepted a challenging job with the then North Devon Health Authority (later becoming Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust).

    I was responsible for establishing the Computer Services function and department, and leading the teams developing the infrastructure with high-availability, disaster tolerant cluster computing (distributed mainframe) platforms supporting the transaction processing systems which hosted patient medical records and other back-office and laboratory systems. My teams also provided data-communications between all our hospitals, Helpdesk, personal computer and applications support, corporate publishing and computer training, both within the Trust and the wider healthcare sector locally.

    Besides my day-to-day responsibilities, I was Chairman of the Computer Services Managers’ group within the South West Regional Health Authority area, and did regular IT-related consulting work for the NHS Executive and some for the Department of Health. This work also included leading several major (multi-million pound) European procurements, both for Northern Devon Healthcare Trust, with other Trusts, and for the wider Regional Health Authority. Whilst doing all these things, and having two young children, I completed my Masters Degree at University College of Wales - Aberystwyth (if you want some ‘thrilling’ reading material, check out my hefty MSc. dissertation which is catalogued and available within the University of Wales Library system).

    Many of you will remember the ‘Millenium bug’ problem, which ultimately proved to be something of a ‘damp squib’. The investgation and assurance programme for IT systems and applications across the world proved extremely demanding and resource hungry, but especially so in the healthcare sector; this proved to be a significant added burden to me personally. But eager as always to continue my education, I began exploring options to continue my academic studies by doing my doctorate. However, before final agreement was reached on the joint supervision arrangements (Aberystwyth and Exeter Universities), my mental health started to suffer, with everything proving too much for me. So in May 2001 after a lengthy period of illness, I took early retirement.

  • Taking early retirement on health grounds at the age of forty was a mixed blessing. Although my pension helped financially, having a young family to support and other interests to pursue meant continuing some form of paid work (also essential because I have a strong work ethic). I also needed work that was more practical and grounded, so as my recovery progressed, and because I love driving, I passed my HGV tests and ended up buying and operating a large commercial vehicle for some seven years.

    Selling my big, beautiful truck and trailer in 2011 was a big wrench as I had enjoyed the solitude and was able to listen to my extensive Beethoven collection. However, I had developed Type II Diabetes which is quite difficult to manage when away from home all week with decidely limited options for healthy eating.

  • During my years in Barnstaple I have seen many changes and developments, some improving things for our community, and some which have been less than well received. But overall, North Devon is a still a wonderful place to live, with Barnstaple being the largest and busiest town in the area. And that is why I will do everything in my power to influence, support, shape, and enhance our community for the future.