About Me

Born a long time ago,  I have lived in Oxfordshire all my life.

I started playing the cornet at primary school at the age of eight and joined Stonesfield Silver Band soon after. After 5 years I joined Pressed Steel Fisher Band until, in 1973 during the 3 day week, the company took away the sponsorship which led to the breakup of the band. I then joined City of Oxford Silver Band. During this time I was also playing trumpet in the Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra under the late Muir Mattheson and then went on to the Guildhall School of Music part-time to study for the L.G.S.M. Shortly after this I diverged slightly and played trumpet for an 8-9 piece jazz-funk-rock band by the name of The Snakey Spat Band based in Abingdon.

I have a strong Engineering background, having completed a Technical Apprenticeship after leaving school and have held several posts including Electronic Technician, Control Engineer, Service Engineer and Electronic Design Engineer over the past 30 years.

Several years ago, after trying unsuccessfully to get my sons' trombone repaired locally, and having to repair it myself, I realized that there may be an opportunity in the field of Instrument Repairs. By chance, I saw an advertisement for a Brass Instrument Repair Course in Wales. So off I went with an open mind and a boot full of broken instruments to the middle of nowhere (actually a lovely part of Wales) to learn how to apply much of what I knew to repairing Brass Instruments

Having been 'downsized' from my previous employer of 18 years, Solid State Logic, in late 2002, I decided that the opportunity to realize my dream of self employment and combining my two great interests, music and engineering, was now a possibility.

I have since attended several more courses at Malden School, Llangunllo for Brass and Woodwind Repairs

I play trombone with the Accidentals, a 15ish piece Brass group , Jubilee Brass (Oxford) Band,a local Brass Band and several Orchestras and other small groups in the area.