All about ‘Audrey’
First of all, could you start by telling us
about your very early life and where
you were born and any interesting
family history?
I was born in Cheltenham in the
Cotswolds and I spent my upbringing on
the family farm. Initially I was at a little
school in Cheltenham but then I was sent
off to boarding school aged seven which
was slightly brutal.
But after a few tears and homesickness
I actually quite enjoyed it all. It was an
absolutely beautiful place called Abberley
Hall, which was effectively a small stately
home that had been turned into a prep
school. So, with about 100 acres of
grounds and woods and everything else
that was there, we had a wonderful time.
I remember the summers being
beautifully sunny, spending time with
friends just messing around on the farm,
going on the back of tractors with trailers
of corn and hiding, making dens in the
straw …we had a great time and I have
lovely memories.
So, your family history is farming?
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My father was briefly in the Navy but
he farmed first of all in Scotland before
I was born. That is where he was from
originally and then he carried on down
in the Cotswolds, which is where my
mother was from. My father died about
four years ago sadly but my mother is
still living in the large farmhouse, rattling
around where we were all brought up
and my brother lives in the village and
runs the farm. We do go back and I get a
lot of stick from my wife when I say, “oh,
we’re going home” because home for
us is Lewes. Most people over 50 have
parents who would have moved house
in that time. It’s quite unusual and it’s
wonderful to go back to the same place that’s all I’ve known.
That’s really nice.
It is and it will be sad that none of us will
move into it as my brother’s got his own
farmhouse in the village. One day it will
be sold.
My wife’s parents have moved all over…
they retired to France but they’ve even
moved in France since they’ve retired.
So, Emma, my wife, has nowhere that
she would really call the family home
where she was brought up. Funnily
enough she spent quite a long time living
within about ten miles of where I was
brought up and her first job was working
for friends of my parents but we never
knew each other until many years later
when we were both living down here.
What sort of a junior school pupil were
you?
I was quite a goody-goody really I think.
I certainly wasn’t a rebel. I quite enjoyed
a lot of the academic side. I’m a bit sad
like that really. I liked Latin particularly
but that may have been because the
Latin master was a member of the Magic
Circle so if we got our work done, out
would come various tricks and it was
always brilliant. He was a great teacher
and he was a great, great entertainer and I loved that.
Sport has always been a central part of
my life, I love it, I particularly enjoyed
cricket when I was at prep school.
I think I was probably quite easy for the
staff. I certainly wasn’t a rebel anyway.