About Me

I was born in Derby, England but lived all over the UK and for several very happy years I lived in Paris. I’m currently based in Lancashire. I was cabin crew for BA for decades, I was an organiser for the Labour party, and I taught English to Russian students for a school in St Petersburg.

I’m currently single, but I come as a package. It’s me and Stevie Nicks. She is the voice of my interior world and I’ve been drowning in the sea of love since I first heard ‘Sara’ from the Fleetwood Mac ‘Tusk’ album back in 1979. It totally captivated me. So, any potential suitor needs to know that they’ll have to share me with one of the greatest rock stars ever! No pressure then.

My favourites, apart from Stevie, are the rest of Fleetwood Mac, INXS, Crowded House, Elton John, Billy Joel, Tom Petty, Blondie, U2, Kate Bush, Bon Jovi (though not since their original lead guitarist Richie Sambora left – they’ve really not been the same since for me), Supertramp, the Pretenders, the Eagles (and I like a lot of what their lead singer and drummer Don Henley has done as a solo artist), Tears for Fears, Tina Turner,ABBA (who I never thought of as a ‘pop’ band – they were in a league of their own). I also love all the disco stuff from the 70s, particularly Nile Rodgers and Chic, and I always have some kind of music playing when I’m sat at my laptop writing. I’m lucky enough to have been to many concerts and the first one I went to was ‘Abba’ on their ‘Voulez-Vous’ tour in London in 1979.The last one, so far, was my beloved Stevie Nicks at Madison Square Garden in New York in November 2016. I was also at the last concert INXS did in London with their original lead singer Micheal Hutchence. That was on the ‘Elegantly Wasted’ tour in June 1997. He sadly died in Sydney five months later when the band were about to start the Australian leg of that tour. A tragic and massive loss to the music world in my opinion.

Oh and I don’t believe in calling a group of singers a ‘band’. A band includes a guitarist, bass player, drummer, keyboard player. A band is NOT a group that only consists of singers.

I’m lucky to have been all over the world and I hope to be travelling again before long. I’d have to say that my favourite parts of the world are Europe, Asia, and Australia. Currently top of my list of places yet to visit are Cambodia, Laos, and Mongolia. I’m always desperate to get back to Australia. It really is my happy place.

Faulty Towers is still my all-time favourite comedy. I also love ‘Allo, Allo!’, ‘Victoria Wood – as seen on TV, Dinnerladies, French and Saunders, Absolutely Fabulous, Vicar of Dibley, Little Britain, Will and Grace, Kath and Kim, Mrs Brown’s Boys and Goodness, Gracious Me.

There are too many really good ones to mention here. But recently I’ve been gripped by ‘World on Fire’, ‘Rebellion’, ‘Heartstopper’, ‘The Responder’, ‘Blue Lights’, ‘The Tourist’, ‘Five Bedrooms’, The Twelve, 'Normal People" and ‘SAS Rogue Heroes’ to name but a few. And I thought that ‘Time’ by Jimmy McGovern was absolutely brilliant.

I’ll watch tennis, especially Wimbledon, and in recent years I think that Andy Murray has really done us proud. But when it comes to football and rugby, I only get interested in the big international tournaments when I always support England, until or unless they’re knocked out, and then I support France. As for the cricket...it’s England, and then, of course, India.

I’m on the centre left. I’m on the Blairite wing of the Labour party and call myself a social democrat. It grieves me to see the world seemingly going backwards at the moment, with all the divisiveness and hatred being stirred up against one group or another. I genuinely fear for where it’s all going to lead. It both saddens and angers me. Live and let live. You don’t have to be against somebody just because they lead a different kind of life to the one that you do. We need to learn basic respect for each other. And true compassion. Your race, gender, sexuality, religion, social background – none of it matters. What does matter is what you’ve got to say for yourself and how you treat other people. That’s all. Or has the human race learned absolutely nothing from history.

I love Indian food, closely followed by French. The way to my heart is either with a lamb Jalfrezi or a plate of escargot. I detest mustard, mayo, ketchup, brown sauce, and anything with vinegar in it, so buying a pre-packed sandwich for me is an absolute nightmare.

I’m terrified of snakes and can’t even look at them on TV or in books. I’m Catholic but I’m no longer a follower of organised religion. I do believe there is some kind of life after this one though and reincarnation seems logical to me. I love going to the theatre and I much prefer a dramatic play to a musical, but I did love ‘Mamma Mia’ and was up dancing in the aisles with the best of them!I’m not into antiques and I’m very much a fan of Japanese minimalism. I don’t like clutter.

I much prefer dogs to cats and would love to have either a German Shepherd or a Golden Retriever to keep me company in my old age. I’d probably have to get someone to take it for walks though.I’m not a fan of so-called ‘reality’ TV but I do love 'Strictly', although I do get annoyed at the inconsistency of the judges and their blatant favouritism of some contestants'.

Oh, and I once made a cheese sandwich for the actress Julia Roberts!