Marsh wo o d

Ispent part of my early childhood living on Portland, falling in love with it. Much rejuvenated these days, it was a different place then, but the wild sea I swam in, and its unique rocky beauty left a big impression on me for the rest of my life. My parents were both journalists their whole lives—my dad was sub-editor on the Dorset Echo, and my mum worked on the Echo and Bridport News. I went to school in Radipole, then when we moved to Puncknowle I went to Colfox School, which I loved, where I did my A levels. This was the old Colfox, which still had its own small farm, and related very much to agricultural Dorset. In summer classrooms were generally less well attended, especially during haymaking, many of the pupils being needed for work on farms during busy times.

Inspired by my life on Portland, and rural life in Puncknowle, I was determined to do some sort of environmental degree. Although I had passed an entrance exam for Oxford, much against my mother’s wishes I refused to go there as they didn’t offer environmental courses. At that time only 2 universities were offering degrees of interest to me, one in East Anglia, the other being Liverpool, where I studied Environmental Biology. It was a superb course, led by the leading academics of their day, and there’s no doubt it was the right personal choice for me, although there might have been different career choices had I gone to Oxford.