MY C.V.

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Who Am I?   

That's me on the right.

I have been the gardener at the Clergy house at Alfriston (Sussex) for 20 years and I have seen many changes. I well remember the scene of devastation following the "great storm "of 16th October 1987 which changed the face of the countryside for ever in a matter of a few hours and fourteen years later, having to deal with the consequences of being flooded continuously for seven months following the devastating flooding of the millennium year.

 I am  chairman of Seaford gardening club. A great bunch of folks. We meet on the last Wednesday of the month. Normally our speakers talk about gardening but our varied programme includes poetry, history and bee-keeping amongst others.

I try to play bowls every Saturday if I can. I am just a "beginner" at the moment. It takes at least ten years to learn all the nuances of the green and I have great difficulty in keeping consistent. My playing partner and I generally lose our matches but I don't care that much because it is such a privilege to be carrying on a 250 year old tradition in such wonderful surroundings and the company is such that it really doesn't matter.

Although I have had to curtail my consumption of alcohol following a heart attack, I am still able to sample the finest real ales (in moderation.) Sadly, in Sussex, one of our major breweries has closed recently and has been taken over by a large enterprise. Greene King, another huge outfit, seem to be determined to stifle choice with their stringent controls on "guest beers" since they bought all the Beards pubs and seem to be behaving in the manner of the "Big Six". who I joined C.A.M.R.A. years ago to fight.

 It's not all bad news, some micro breweries are thriving and I am pleased to report the re-opening of the "GARDENERS ARMS" in Lewes after a refit following the devastating floods of October 2000. Also in Lewes, there is the magnificent Victorian, gothic, Harvey's brewery with its wonderful best bitter forming a  close dead heat with Robinsons of Stockport (Manchester) as the best beer in the world, just knocking Marstons Pedigree into second place with Archers of Swindon a gallant third.

I really enjoy classical music and I am lucky enough to have Glyndebourne on my back doorstep although I prefer to listen to Baroque or chamber music at home or in the car. My favourite composer is Corelli and I prefer the structured form of the concerto or sonata although for serious goose-bumps it has to be the works of Thomas Tallis, Palestrina or William Byrd. Much as I love the works of J. S. Bach, my "desert island disc" would have to be Vaughan Williams "Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis"

I belong to Lewes film club which shows "real" films as opposed to Hollywood blockbusters with their car chases, special effects and gratuitous sex and violence. 

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