Once, at grammar school, I was sat at the back in a maths class and was secretly reading a poem by Spike Milligan, ‘Silly Old Baboon’. After that one reading, I can still recite it all today! During Xmas 2022, I saw a TV documentary on Spike in which was mentioned a book he had written ‘Silly Verse for Kids’. I obtained a copy, which I enjoyed thoroughly, and thought ‘I’d love to be able I to do that!’ So, I tried!

I have been writing these stories since then, prompted by my own inclinations and by friends and family ‘… could you write something about … hedgehogs, quokkas, owls etc..’ A book was never the intention but there came a point when I had garnered several stories such that it became a logical outcome. Now I find myself absorbed in developing out the various characters and their interactions through more adventures. So, watch this space!

It has been a great pleasure for me writing these little tales as they give me an outlet to educate and to entertain, and to express my admiration of animals and birds. This is derived principally from my Shropshire childhood and having kept many animals with my late wife Kay. These have included dogs, feral cats, ferrets, horses, ponies, a sheep, ducks, geese and chickens. We also had a donkey called Anastasia who had a Belgian passport and was destined to become meat. Somehow, she escaped and was ultimately rescued by us. It is this donkey that is the inspiration for the story ‘Annie, The Windy Donkey’! We also had a big black and very mean cockerel called Kaiser – his tale is yet to be told!

Currently, I have three dogs, one a rescue English pointer called Jenson, a working Springer, Ruby, and one of her sons, Zeppelin (he is a ‘Black Dog’ – hence the name!