Although born and brought up in Dundee, I spent a great deal of time at my grandparent’s farm on Royal Deeside near Ballater.

Family holidays were spent exploring Scotland and further afield, giving me a great love of travelling and finding out about places. I trained as a primary school teacher and as newly married couple my wife and I went to stay in the tiny village of Durness in the remote NW Highlands. I was promoted to headteacher and held this post for 26 years during which time I developed a love for local history, genealogy and archaeology. It was through these interests that I became involved in guiding and in my work as a teacher I lead and guided many school trips throughout Scotland including Orkney, Glasgow and Edinburgh. I also developed traditional story and archaeology walks and helped many people trace their family trees to the local area.

During my time in Durness I also became a keen gardener, chairing the local gardening group and maintaining the community garden, despite some of the most challenging conditions in Scotland!

My wife and I now stay in Inverurie, returning to family roots in Aberdeenshire. Since qualifying as a guide in 2014 I have been mainly involved in extended bus tours of central and northern Scotland as well as the Orkney and Western Isles. I have done various day trips in and around Aberdeen which has included hiring a car for driver-guiding.