About me

I am married to the very tolerant Maria and we have two children, Simon and Claire, partner Jaimie and daughter Isabel. Our family have grown up and left home, which is in the village of Morcott, Rutland, and was Chelmsford until January 2018.

I had the good fortune to be educated at a time when boys were taught woodwork, metalwork and technical drawing at school. And so before the age of 18 I had made a steam engine, learnt how to use basic wood and metal working tools correctly, as well as casting, brazing, heat treatment and basic use of lathe, milling and shaping machines. I also learned in Technical Drawing how to draw and sketch. These important engineering skills are not valued these days and may go some way to understanding why the UK now manufactures so little. I value the craft skills I learned at school and from my father at least as much as my Manchester University Electrical Engineering degree, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (RAE Farnborough, SETC,1970/71)

I spent most of my working life in the car industry. Working on some iconic brands and in some interesting and sometimes exotic places. Can't say that overall I enjoyed it much, but it paid the bills, still does, and I am grateful for that and the two lifelong friends I met there.

I would be happy to receive email from anyone interested in this stuff: Kelliot1@aol.com will find me.