My Profile

PAUL ANDREWS – CV - Achievements directly related to creative writing highlighted in bold

 

War years

Father, a curate in a church in London met mother, a short hand typist, the “akela” of the church cubs. Father’s father, a Conservative voter, a rich qualified surveyor and building firm owner who built bespoke houses for wealthy clients. Mother’s father, a Labour voter, a  London docker who had been wounded and invalided out of World War I. Politically, I’ve heard both sides point of view, and believe I can see both sides of an argument!

 

1947

I was bourn at Towcester. Dad was a curate

 

 

Family moved to Shrewsbury, Dad a curate in charge of a small local church

 

 

Dad vicar of Ettingshall church. An industrial parish in the West Midlands.

 

1962

Family moved to St Andrew’s Church, Birchills, Walsall, another industrial parish

 

1955 – July 1965

Five years at Prestfelde Prep School, Shrewsbury followed by another five years at Ellesmere College, a boys’ boarding “public” school at Ellesmere, Shropshire. Started learning Latin at the age of 9 (amongst other subjects)

 

1963

Started learning Classical Greek

 

1965 - 1968

Dismal A level results and personal indecision led to me losing out on university entry and ending up at the College of Commerce in Liverpool studying an external University of London degree in Law. Law bored me, and I continued to read Latin and Greek texts in spare time. I finished with a lower 2nd Class honours London University LLB degree

I joined the Liverpool University Potholing Club (LUPC)

LUPC 1967

 

1968 -9

Liverpool Law School, studying Law Society professional exams.

 

1969-71

Articled to a Jewish firm

 

1971-2

18 months working as a legal assistant at Liverpool Regional Hospital Board

 

July 1972

I qualify as a solicitor.

 

1973

I move to Bristol area and work for Sodbury Rural District Council

 

August 1979

Awarded London University upper second class honours degree in Classics as an external student – I had arranged my own correspondence course to cover the syllabus set by the university and corresponded with university lecturers. Same exams as internal students

 

Early 1980’s

Re-union of former members of LUPC. We called ourselves “The Northern Boggarts”.  In 1983/84 I do a correspondence course with London School of Journalism – on writing articles and short stories. Northern Boggarts have a bi-monthly journal describing caving trips. I contribute lots of articles and get a taste for creative writing.

At the Colonades, Lancaster Hole 1968

 

1973 – 1997

Various appointments to a succession of local authorities: Sodbury RDC, Northavon DC, Kerrier DC (Cornwall), New Towns Commission (Corby), St. Helens Metropolitan Borough, finally ending up at Ryedale DC in 1988 as their chief solicitor

 

1989 - date

I stop caving and start sailing (less strenuous but equally adventurous), first on the River Ouse, then with Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club at Bridlington, ending up with Scarborough Yacht Club in 1999. I still have a yacht in Scarborough Harbour and remain a member of SYC.

Starchick

 

1991-2

Divorced from first wife, with whom I had had two sons.

 

1997

Following local government reorganisation, I go into private practice and join the Liberal Democrats. I run a LibDem campaign to build a joint use dry sports centre at Malton School – which eventually succeeds some years later against Conservative opposition. I begin writing letters to the local newspapers. I also join Habton Parish Council and lead a campaign to save our local pub – which succeeds.

 

2000

I remarry and move into house in Great Habton, where we still live. I am asked by one local newspaper (Gazette and Herald) to write a paid monthly column – which I keep up for ten years.

 

2003

Elected District LibDem councillor for Malton ward (a three member ward)

 

2004

I join out of the LibDems and go independent

 

2006 - 10

I publish novel “The Loner” through Matador

 

 

 

2007

Re-elected district councillor for Malton as independent by four votes, and elected onto Malton Town Council

 

1997 - 2008

Four years working for a small legal firm, then agency work, at first working 11 months a year, then 9 months and finally 6 months. The crash of 2008 wrecks the housing market, including the legal conveyancing business and I retire permanently from paid work.

 

2007 – 2023

I fight and win four elections for Ryedale DC’s Malton ward as an independent. This was a three member ward, which I shared initially with a LibDem and a Conservative, and which eventually had three independents. I wrote all my own election campaign literature. Ryedale District Council ceased to exist on 1st April 2023, and I did not contest any of the divisions of the new authority.

 

As a district councillor, I campaigned against Council car park charges and eventually persuading the local estate company to take back the town centre car park from the council and make it free.  I led a successful campaign against building  a new superstore on another  council car park which would have destroyed Malton Town Centre shops.  I opposed the Environment Agency’s plans to take down flood defences protecting farms and villages, including persuading Ryedale to pay for a hydrological engineer to negotiate with the Agency and getting a joint university team to look at a solution for flooding in Pickering. I raised £30,000 with the help of Frackfree to enable me to take legal proceedings against the government on fracking.  I published articles and letters on all these matters in the local press.

 

2013 - 2016

I wrote the “Warrior from the Tin Islands”

 

2016 – 2019

I was the elected Mayor of Malton. I raised £3,000 as Mayor for Acorn Community Trust, Malton Hospital and Malton in Bloom. I obtained a grant from Malton Town Council to restore the Assembly Room in Malton’s Georgian entertainment complex, The Milton Rooms. I initiatied the improvement of the look of the town through “Malton in Bloom”, and supported projects to improve green facilities for public use in the town, the restoration of the local cemetery chapel and the refurbishment of a public playing field and the refurbishment of our skate park.

With Di at Malton for Tour de Yorkshire

 

2019 - 2020

Voted Chair of the local arts centre, The Milton Rooms, Malton, which I keep for a year.

 

2021 - 2023

Voted chair of Ryedale District Council’s Planning Committee and tried to get some sense into the Local Plan, which forces Malton to take 50% of new houses, when the infrastructure is inadeqaute.

I was made an honorary alderman of Ryedale District Council before the Council ceased to exist – all honorary aldermen of the North Yorkshire districts automatically became honorary aldermen of the new North Yorkshire county.

Receiving Honorary Alderman certificate  1

 

2007 and 2020 - date

Yorkshire Post accepts articles from me.

 

 

 

 

 

2024

I resign from Malton Town Council

 

 

 

 

 

The Warrior from the Tin Islands

THE WARRIOR FROM THE TIN ISLANDS

 

The "Warrior from the Tin Islands" is a historical novel set in the Mediteranean world of the fourth century BC, which was dominated by the super-power of the time, the Persian Empire which was bent on world conquest.

The Greek speaking cities on the Eastern coast of the Aegean sea had revolted against the Empire. The Empire's provincial capital had been plundered and burnt. The revolt had been put down, and the Emperor had sworn to take his revenge. The Empire is poised to achieve world conquest. The only challenge to stand between the Empire and world domination is a proud independent and free people led by a bullying Spartan king and a bent small-city boss.

Bran, the son of a Celtic warrior chief, is cursed to be a slave for the rest of his life.

Corina is the daughter of a rich and powerful city official.

Can their love survive the onslaught of the Empire's troops and overcome the rigid social barriers between Citizen and Slave and Greek and Barbarian?

PURCHASE

Paper copies are for sale by following this link: The Warrior

E-book copies are for sale by following this link: The Warrior (lulu.com)

Paper back copies can also be bought from Kemps' and Hoppers' bookshops in Malton 

 

REVIEWS:

Bill, a friend, says: "I enjoyed the book - easily as good as many 'officially' published novels .................it taught me things about the classical world".

Katrina, another reader says: "Just to say how much I enjoyed reading The Warrior from the Tin Islands, which I finished this morning. I thought you crafted Bran’s personal odyssey brilliantly and the oracle was such a great premise to mean that we could follow him to Carthage, to the Scythian police and to then fighting at Thermopylae, whilst also getting glimpses of Susa and Athens simultaneously via Yitsok. What a cast list! I especially enjoyed the Aeschylus section (and his reappearance at Salamis of course) and the fact we were able to spend time hearing from Themistocles, Artemisia, Leonidas, Hasdrubal and so many others, with the history and narrative seamlessly woven in, as well as your own creations."

Revd. Canon John Manchester, a local retired vicar says: "If you like history, you'll like this book. A wonderful adventure story and well worth reading".

 

Tim Coates says:

This is a unique and special book. It is beautifully written and has excellent and fascinating research. The stories are part of Ancient Greek history and have a universal attraction. It is the kind of long saga which gave rise to ‘A Game of Thrones’ or ‘The Lord of the Rings’. It also leads us to the conclusion that, as current geopoliticals show, small states standing up to the aggression of larger ones is not a new phenomenon. It will be a publisher’s delight with a truly international audience.”

Tim Coates is a well-known best-selling author, and is a former managing Director of Waterstones and several other UK and US book companies.

 

Nigel Brotherton says:

“It, for me, was a compelling read which moulded together a number of Ancient Greek events, which up to that point had been only individual events on a long period of history. I certainly had not even suspected that there could have been links between Cornwall and Ancient Greek history.”

Nigel is a friend who lives locally and is a former distribution manager of WH Smith.

 

Peter Addyman says: “Thanks so much for your amazing book. Quite a page turner and always full of fascinating references”

Peter Addyman was director of the York Archaeological Trust 1972 - 2002 and oversaw the construction of the York Jorvik Viking centre. I knew him for a short while when he was chair of Malton Museum.

 

 

Paul Andrews

This is my background ....

PAUL ANDREWS – CV - Achievements directly related to writing highlighted in bold

 

War years

Father, a curate in a church in London met mother, a short hand typist, the “akela” of the church cubs. Father’s father, a Conservative voter, a rich qualified surveyor and building firm owner who built bespoke houses for wealthy clients. Mother’s father, a Labour voter, a  London docker who had been wounded and invalided out of World War I. Politically, I’ve heard both sides point of view, and believe I can see both sides of an argument!

1947

I was born at Towcester. Dad was a curate

 

Family moved to Shrewsbury, Dad a curate in charge of a small local church

 

Dad vicar of Ettingshall church. An industrial parish in the West Midlands.

1962

Family moved to St Andrew’s Church, Birchills, Walsall, another industrial parish

1955 – July 1965

Five years at Prestfelde Prep School, Shrewsbury followed by another five years at Ellesmere College, a boys’ boarding “public” school at Ellesmere, Shropshire. Started learning Latin at the age of 9 (amongst other subjects)

1963

Started learning Classical Greek

1965 - 1968

Dismal A level results and personal indecision led to me losing out on university entry and ending up at the College of Commerce in Liverpool studying an external University of London degree in Law. Law bored me, and I continued to read Latin and Greek texts in spare time. I finished with a lower 2nd Class honours London University LLB degree

I joined the Liverpool University Potholing Club (LUPC)

1968 -9

Liverpool Law School, studying Law Society professional exams.

1969-71

Articled to a Jewish firm

1971-2

18 months working as a legal assistant at Liverpool Regional Hospital Board

July 1972

I qualify as a solicitor.

1973

I move to Bristol area and work for Sodbury Rural District Council

August 1979

Awarded London University upper second class honours degree in Classics as an external student – I had arranged my own correspondence course to cover the syllabus set by the university and corresponded with university lecturers. Same exams as internal students

Early 1980’s

Re-union of former members of LUPC. We called ourselves “The Northern Boggarts”.  In 1983/84 I do a correspondence course with London School of Journalism – on writing articles and short stories. Northern Boggarts have a bi-monthly journal describing caving trips. I contribute lots of articles and get a taste for creative writing.

1973 – 1997

Various appointments to a succession of local authorities: Sodbury RDC, Northavon DC, Kerrier DC (Cornwall), New Towns Commission (Corby), St. Helens Metropolitan Borough, finally ending up at Ryedale DC in 1988 as their chief solicitor

1989 - date

I stop caving and start sailing (less strenuous but equally adventurous), first on the River Ouse, then with Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club at Bridlington, ending up with Scarborough Yacht Club in 1999. I still have a yacht in Scarborough Harbour and remain a member of SYC.

1991-2

Divorced from first wife, with whom I had had two sons.

1997

Following local government reorganisation, I go into private practice and join the Liberal Democrats. I run a LibDem campaign to build a joint use dry sports centre at Malton School – which eventually succeeds some years later against Conservative opposition. I begin writing letters to the local newspapers. I also join Habton Parish Council and lead a campaign to save our local pub – which succeeds.

2000

I remarry and move into house in Great Habton, where we still live. I am asked by one local newspaper (Gazette and Herald) to write a paid monthly column – which I keep up for ten years.

2003

Elected District LibDem councillor for Malton ward (a three member ward)

2004

I join out of the LibDems and go independent                  

2006 - 10

I self-publish novel “The Loner” through Matador

2007

Re-elected district councillor for Malton as independent by four votes, and elected onto Malton Town Council

1997 - 2008

Four years working for a small legal firm, then agency work, at first working 11 months a year, then 9 months and finally 6 months. The crash of 2008 wrecks the housing market, including the legal conveyancing business and I retire permanently from paid work.

2007 – 2023

I fight and win four elections for Ryedale DC’s Malton ward as an independent. This was a three member ward, which I shared initially with a LibDem and a Conservative, and which eventually had three independents. I wrote all my own election campaign literature. Ryedale District Council ceased to exist on 1st April 2023, and I did not contest any of the divisions of the new authority.

 

As a district councillor, I campaigned against Council car park charges and eventually persuaded the local estate company to take back the town centre car park from the council and make it free.  I led a successful campaign against building  a new superstore on another  council car park which would have destroyed Malton Town Centre shops.  I opposed the Environment Agency’s plans to take down flood defences protecting farms and villages, including persuading Ryedale to pay for a hydrological engineer to negotiate with the Agency and getting a joint university team to look at a solution for flooding in Pickering. I raised £30,000 with the help of Frackfree to enable me to take legal proceedings against the government on fracking.  I published articles and letters on all these matters in the local press.

2013 - 2016

I wrote the “Warrior from the Tin Islands” which has been printed on website “Lulu”, but not published

2016 – 2019

I was the elected Mayor of Malton. I raised £3,000 as Mayor for Acorn Community Trust, Malton Hospital and Malton in Bloom. I obtained a grant from Malton Town Council to restore the Assembly Room in Malton’s Georgian entertainment complex, The Milton Rooms. I initiatied the improvement of the look of the town through “Malton in Bloom”, and supported projects to improve green facilities for public use in the town, the restoration of the local cemetery chapel and the refurbishment of a public playing field and the refurbishment of our skate park.

2019 - 2020

Voted Chair of the local arts centre, The Milton Rooms, Malton, which I keep for a year.

2021 - 2023

Voted chair of Ryedale District Council’s Planning Committee and tried to get some sense into the Local Plan, which forces Malton to take 50% of new houses, when the infrastructure is inadequate.

I was made an honorary alderman of Ryedale District Council before the Council ceased to exist – all honorary aldermen of the North Yorkshire districts automatically became honorary aldermen of the new North Yorkshire county.

2007 and 2020 - date

Yorkshire Post accepts articles from me.

April 2024

I resign from Malton Town Council

 

           

 

 

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Subcategories

PAUL ANDREWS – CV - Achievements directly related to writing highlighted in bold

 

War years

Father, a curate in a church in London met mother, a short hand typist, the “akela” of the church cubs. Father’s father, a Conservative voter, a rich qualified surveyor and building firm owner who built bespoke houses for wealthy clients. Mother’s father, a Labour voter, a  London docker who had been wounded and invalided out of World War I. Politically, I’ve heard both sides point of view, and believe I can see both sides of an argument!

 
 
 
 
 

1947

I was bourn at Towcester. Dad was a curate

 

 

Family moved to Shrewsbury, Dad a curate in charge of a small local church

 

 

Dad vicar of Ettingshall church. An industrial parish in the West Midlands.

 

1962

Family moved to St Andrew’s Church, Birchills, Walsall, another industrial parish

 

1955 – July 1965

Five years at Prestfelde Prep School, Shrewsbury followed by another five years at Ellesmere College, a boys’ boarding “public” school at Ellesmere, Shropshire. Started learning Latin at the age of 9 (amongst other subjects)

 

1963

Started learning Classical Greek

 

1965 - 1968

Dismal A level results and personal indecision led to me losing out on university entry and ending up at the College of Commerce in Liverpool studying an external University of London degree in Law. Law bored me, and I continued to read Latin and Greek texts in spare time. I finished with a lower 2nd Class honours London University LLB degree

I joined the Liverpool University Potholing Club (LUPC)

1968 -9

Liverpool Law School, studying Law Society professional exams.

 

1969-71

Articled to a Jewish firm

 

1971-2

18 months working as a legal assistant at Liverpool Regional Hospital Board

 

July 1972

I qualify as a solicitor.

 

1973

I move to Bristol area and work for Sodbury Rural District Council

 

August 1979

Awarded London University upper second class honours degree in Classics as an external student – I had arranged my own correspondence course to cover the syllabus set by the university and corresponded with university lecturers. Same exams as internal students

 

Early 1980’s

Re-union of former members of LUPC. We called ourselves “The Northern Boggarts”.  In 1983/84 I do a correspondence course with London School of Journalism – on writing articles and short stories. Northern Boggarts have a bi-monthly journal describing caving trips. I contribute lots of articles and get a taste for creative writing.

Lancaster Hole, Colonades 1967

1973 – 1997

Various appointments to a succession of local authorities: Sodbury RDC, Northavon DC, Kerrier DC (Cornwall), New Towns Commission (Corby), St. Helens Metropolitan Borough, finally ending up at Ryedale DC in 1988 as their chief solicitor

 

1989 - date

I stop caving and start sailing (less strenuous but equally adventurous), first on the River Ouse, then with Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club at Bridlington, ending up with Scarborough Yacht Club in 1999. I still have a yacht in Scarborough Harbour and remain a member of SYC.

1991-2

Divorced from first wife, with whom I had had two sons.

 

1997

Following local government reorganisation, I go into private practice and join the Liberal Democrats. I run a LibDem campaign to build a joint use dry sports centre at Malton School – which eventually succeeds some years later against Conservative opposition. I begin writing letters to the local newspapers. I also join Habton Parish Council and lead a campaign to save our local pub – which succeeds.

 

2000

I remarry and move into house in Great Habton, where we still live. I am asked by one local newspaper (Gazette and Herald) to write a paid monthly column – which I keep up for ten years.

 

2003

Elected District LibDem councillor for Malton ward (a three member ward)

 

2004

I join out of the LibDems and go independent                  

 

2006 - 10

I self-publish novel The Loner through Matador

 

 

2007

Re-elected district councillor for Malton as independent by four votes, and elected onto Malton Town Council

 

1997 - 2008

Four years working for a small legal firm, then agency work, at first working 11 months a year, then 9 months and finally 6 months. The crash of 2008 wrecks the housing market, including the legal conveyancing business and I retire permanently from paid work.

 

2007 – 2023

I fight and win four elections for Ryedale DC’s Malton ward as an independent. This was a three member ward, which I shared initially with a LibDem and a Conservative, and which eventually had three independents. I wrote all my own election campaign literature. Ryedale District Council ceased to exist on 1st April 2023, and I did not contest any of the divisions of the new authority.

 

As a district councillor, I campaigned against Council car park charges and eventually persuading the local estate company to take back the town centre car park from the council and make it free.  I led a successful campaign against building  a new superstore on another  council car park which would have destroyed Malton Town Centre shops.  I opposed the Environment Agency’s plans to take down flood defences protecting farms and villages, including persuading Ryedale to pay for a hydrological engineer to negotiate with the Agency and getting a joint university team to look at a solution for flooding in Pickering. I raised £30,000 with the help of Frackfree to enable me to take legal proceedings against the government on fracking.  I published articles and letters on all these matters in the local press.

 

At Malton in Bloom

2013 - 2016

I wrote the “Warrior from the Tin Islands” 

 

 

2016 – 2019

I was the elected Mayor of Malton. I raised £3,000 as Mayor for Acorn Community Trust, Malton Hospital and Malton in Bloom. I obtained a grant from Malton Town Council to restore the Assembly Room in Malton’s Georgian entertainment complex, The Milton Rooms. I initiated the improvement of the look of the town through “Malton in Bloom”, and supported projects to improve green facilities for public use in the town, the restoration of the local cemetery chapel and the refurbishment of a public playing field and the refurbishment of our skate park. 

I joined the anti-fracking campaign, and with the support of Malton Town Council, took the government to the High Court

With Di at Malton for Tour de Yorkshire

Outside the High Court, London

2019 - 2020

Voted Chair of the local arts centre, The Milton Rooms, Malton, which I keep for a year.

 

2021 - 2023

Voted chair of Ryedale District Council’s Planning Committee and tried to get some sense into the Local Plan, which forces Malton to take 50% of new houses, when the infrastructure is inadequate.

I was made an honorary alderman of Ryedale District Council before the Council ceased to exist – all honorary aldermen of the North Yorkshire districts automatically became honorary aldermen of the new North Yorkshire county.

 

2007 and 2020 - date

Yorkshire Post accepts articles from me.

 

April 2024

I resign from Malton Town Council

 

 

   

PAUL ANDREWS – CV - Achievements directly related to creative writing highlighted in bold

 

War years

Father, a curate in a church in London met mother, a short hand typist, the “akela” of the church cubs. Father’s father, a Conservative voter, a rich qualified surveyor and building firm owner who built bespoke houses for wealthy clients. Mother’s father, a Labour voter, a  London docker who had been wounded and invalided out of World War I. Politically, I’ve heard both sides point of view, and believe I can see both sides of an argument!


 

1947

I was bourn at Towcester. Dad was a curate

 

 

Family moved to Shrewsbury, Dad a curate in charge of a small local church

 

 

Dad vicar of Ettingshall church. An industrial parish in the West Midlands.

 

1962

Family moved to St Andrew’s Church, Birchills, Walsall, another industrial parish

 

1955 – July 1965

Five years at Prestfelde Prep School, Shrewsbury followed by another five years at Ellesmere College, a boys’ boarding “public” school at Ellesmere, Shropshire. Started learning Latin at the age of 9 (amongst other subjects)

 

1963

Started learning Classical Greek

 

1965 - 1968

Dismal A level results and personal indecision led to me losing out on university entry and ending up at the College of Commerce in Liverpool studying an external University of London degree in Law. Law bored me, and I continued to read Latin and Greek texts in spare time. I finished with a lower 2nd Class honours London University LLB degree

I joined the Liverpool University Potholing Club (LUPC)


LUPC 1967

 

1968 -9

Liverpool Law School, studying Law Society professional exams.

 

1969-71

Articled to a Jewish firm

 

1971-2

18 months working as a legal assistant at Liverpool Regional Hospital Board

 

July 1972

I qualify as a solicitor.

 

1973

I move to Bristol area and work for Sodbury Rural District Council

 

August 1979

Awarded London University upper second class honours degree in Classics as an external student – I had arranged my own correspondence course to cover the syllabus set by the university and corresponded with university lecturers. Same exams as internal students

 

Early 1980’s

Re-union of former members of LUPC. We called ourselves “The Northern Boggarts”.  In 1983/84 I do a correspondence course with London School of Journalism – on writing articles and short stories. Northern Boggarts have a bi-monthly journal describing caving trips. I contribute lots of articles and get a taste for creative writing.


At the Colonades, Lancaster Hole 1968

 

1973 – 1997

Various appointments to a succession of local authorities: Sodbury RDC, Northavon DC, Kerrier DC (Cornwall), New Towns Commission (Corby), St. Helens Metropolitan Borough, finally ending up at Ryedale DC in 1988 as their chief solicitor

 

1989 - date

I stop caving and start sailing (less strenuous but equally adventurous), first on the River Ouse, then with Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club at Bridlington, ending up with Scarborough Yacht Club in 1999. I still have a yacht in Scarborough Harbour and remain a member of SYC.


Starchick

 

1991-2

Divorced from first wife, with whom I had had two sons.

 

1997

Following local government reorganisation, I go into private practice and join the Liberal Democrats. I run a LibDem campaign to build a joint use dry sports centre at Malton School – which eventually succeeds some years later against Conservative opposition. I begin writing letters to the local newspapers. I also join Habton Parish Council and lead a campaign to save our local pub – which succeeds.

 

2000

I remarry and move into house in Great Habton, where we still live. I am asked by one local newspaper (Gazette and Herald) to write a paid monthly column – which I keep up for ten years.

 

2003

Elected District LibDem councillor for Malton ward (a three member ward)

 

2004

I join out of the LibDems and go independent

 

2006 - 10

I self-publish novel “The Loner” through Matador

 

 

 

2007

Re-elected district councillor for Malton as independent by four votes, and elected onto Malton Town Council

 

1997 - 2008

Four years working for a small legal firm, then agency work, at first working 11 months a year, then 9 months and finally 6 months. The crash of 2008 wrecks the housing market, including the legal conveyancing business and I retire permanently from paid work.

 

2007 – 2023

I fight and win four elections for Ryedale DC’s Malton ward as an independent. This was a three member ward, which I shared initially with a LibDem and a Conservative, and which eventually had three independents. I wrote all my own election campaign literature. Ryedale District Council ceased to exist on 1st April 2023, and I did not contest any of the divisions of the new authority.

 

As a district councillor, I campaigned against Council car park charges and eventually persuading the local estate company to take back the town centre car park from the council and make it free.  I led a successful campaign against building  a new superstore on another  council car park which would have destroyed Malton Town Centre shops.  I opposed the Environment Agency’s plans to take down flood defences protecting farms and villages, including persuading Ryedale to pay for a hydrological engineer to negotiate with the Agency and getting a joint university team to look at a solution for flooding in Pickering. I raised £30,000 with the help of Frackfree to enable me to take legal proceedings against the government on fracking.  I published articles and letters on all these matters in the local press.

2013 - 2016

I wrote the “Warrior from the Tin Islands”

 

 

 

 

 

 

2016 – 2019

I was the elected Mayor of Malton. I raised £3,000 as Mayor for Acorn Community Trust, Malton Hospital and Malton in Bloom. I obtained a grant from Malton Town Council to restore the Assembly Room in Malton’s Georgian entertainment complex, The Milton Rooms. I initiatied the improvement of the look of the town through “Malton in Bloom”, and supported projects to improve green facilities for public use in the town, the restoration of the local cemetery chapel and the refurbishment of a public playing field and the refurbishment of our skate park.


With Di at Malton for Tour de Yorkshire

 

2019 - 2020

Voted Chair of the local arts centre, The Milton Rooms, Malton, which I keep for a year.

 

2021 - 2023

Voted chair of Ryedale District Council’s Planning Committee and tried to get some sense into the Local Plan, which forces Malton to take 50% of new houses, when the infrastructure is inadeqaute.

I was made an honorary alderman of Ryedale District Council before the Council ceased to exist – all honorary aldermen of the North Yorkshire districts automatically became honorary aldermen of the new North Yorkshire county.

 

  

 

2007 and 2020 - date

Yorkshire Post accepts articles from me.

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

 

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