I've been contributing to Wikipedia since June 2007, when I made a stab at initiating the ARV Super2 wikipage. I have made a number of contributions, and have started some pages, including ground-adjustable propellers, dual ignition, BMW R1100S, the D-Motor LF26 and MidWest AE series rotary aero-engines. I am interested in flying, motorcycling, skiing, sailing, scuba-diving, engines & mechanical things, navigable canals, dams & reservoirs, architecture & construction, geography, history, criminology, politics and law. I have contributed some notes on motorbikes, engineering and aviation topics, and have been active on the ARV Super2 page.
Having lived on the Isle of Man, (the home of the TT and the Max Grand Prix), I adore motorbikes. When I was younger, I raced in AMCA motocross & ACU enduro, but my competition licence has lapsed, and now I stick to road bikes. I still ride regularly, and cover around 4,000 miles every year. My lovely Yamaha TRX850 sportsbike is my 40th motorcycle, and my favourite of all. I tried replacing it with (in succession) a Ducati ST4, an Aprilia Falco and a BMW R1100S, but my Yamaha suits me better than any of them! The Mead & Tomkinson endurance racing team were friends, and occasionally I helped in the pits at the Le Mans Bol d'Or and at the Thruxton 8-hour endurance race.
I'm a fan of Wankel engines and particularly admire the Norton rotary. Even my ARV Super2 has a MidWest twin-rotor motor. My love of flying was not diminished by an experience when, as a schoolboy passenger on a Bristol Britannia, the aircraft suffered an explosion and a blazing engine fire at night over the Sahara. We diverted to Malta on 3 engines, and landed safely, later continuing to London on an RAF VC10.
I have a Private Pilot's Licence, an RYA Yachtmaster (Offshore) ticket and a basic PADI scuba qualification. As an RYA Yachtmaster, I've done a lot of offshore sailing on catamarans and on a 72' staysail schooner. I was a partner in the Offshore off-licence enterprise off Hartlepool. I used to be a runner and a skier, but now my hips, knees & ankles have packed in, so I am reduced to cycling and walking the dog.
I have carried out a number of business projects, some successful, some less so. These included developing some flats in London, building "Basford Villas" four Italianate villas in the Potteries, and developing a pre-Victorian warehouse fronting the Trent and Mersey Canal. With a partner, I co-ran the London Direct Design Show, a showcase for the work of young artists. I established and ran a small hotel to exploit the 1986 Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival. Several of the Festival sculptors, including Keir Smith and Ana Maria Pacheco stayed chez nous while they were sculpting their creations. Motorcycle trials champion Sammy Miller was a celebrity guest.
My early schooling was in Northern Rhodesia (Lusaka, Katete, Fort Jameson and Luanshya), Norfolk (Sheringham) and London (Tooting), but my secondary schooling was in at Kings School, Peterborough, and then King William's College in the Isle of Man. After qualifying in Law from the University of Sheffield in 1972, I worked as a volunteer at Liverpool Community Transport, driving a Leyland PD2 double-decker bus. However, my main career (since 1973) has been as a lecturer in law in polytechnics and universities. I taught predominantly in the UK, but with short spells in seven countries in Europe and Asia. I taught Maritime Law within an Engineering Faculty at Liverpool John Moores University, just for a couple of days a week. I have passed the retirement age of 65, but thanks to Brussels, EU employment law now forbids compulsory retirement at pensionable age, so I could have carried on working for as long as I wanted. I've always enjoyed teaching, but the admin crap that now goes with it became more than I could stand, so I retired at the end of August 2019. Having been a teacher since 1972, I feel I've done my bit. Anyway, I've got a pension to spend and Wikipedia articles to edit!
Having retired, I've bought myself the wide-beam barge "Cordelia" to navigate the wider canals of northern and southern England (the older canals in the Midlands are narrow). Afterward, I'll sail her across the English Channel to the waterways of Europe, starting with France, perhaps following the route described in "Narrow dog to Carcassonne". I had considered, in due course, navigating the Rhine-Main-Danube waterway to the Black Sea; but having done some research, I now reckon that would be a bridge too far; going down the Danube is fast, given the very strong current, while returning would be terribly slow. Unless you can return via the Mediterranean Sea to the Rhône, (as did Bill & Laurel Cooper), the cross-Europe waterway is effectively one-way only for river barges like mine.
Along with the sensible half the UK population, I'm devastated by the result of the UK's idiotic Brexit vote. I'm convinced there's no mandate for such a massive irreversible constitutional change, and I'm doing all I can to remain an EU citizen. We've lost a battle, but not the war, and I am active in the EU Rejoiner movement.
I used to be a Wikipedia novice, but at last I'm starting to get the hang of things. However, I'm not complacent and am still keen to learn and improve. I do my best to avoid "editor skirmishes", and I feel good faith and gentle humour are the way to avoid any spats. I've even signed up to Old Fashioned Wikipedian Values to keep myself on message!
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