Since 2007, I've been employed as Senior Feature Writer for the Bristol Evening Post and Western Daily Press newspapers. My current role involves producing news features primarily for the Evening Post.
During my time in Bristol I've also worked on Seven – the Evening Post’s Saturday magazine, West Country Life – the equivalent magazine in the Western Daily Press, as well as supplements such as Look At You (women and family supplement in the WDP), Life Time (older person’s supplement in WDP), and Bristol Times (nostalgia supplement in the Evening Post).
In previous years I've also written a weekly allotment column in West Country Life, and had online responsibilities, including uploading stories to the internet, monitoring and editing online comments, and filming and editing video news bulletins.
I have attended annual media law refresher courses, with media law expert Robin Thompson.
I was named “feature writer of the year” in the newspaper’s internal annual awards for both 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.
2006 - 2007
Gloucestershire Echo/
Gloucester Citizen
Feature writer/ features sub-editor
Previously, I was employed as a feature writer and features sub-editor at the Gloucestershire Echo and Gloucester Citizen newspapers.
The role was based in Cheltenham, home to the annual festivals of literature, music, jazz, folk and science – all of which are given thorough coverage by the features team.
The role involved planning, writing, subbing and designing a wide range of features for the award-winning Weekend magazine, which appears as a supplement in both the Gloucestershire Echo and the Gloucester Citizen each Saturday.
I also produced features for the Going Out magazine, a weekly entertainments supplement, which appears in both newspapers, as well as producing daily entertainment pages, weekly auction pages and travel spreads in the Gloucestershire Echo.
While writing remained my main passion, the position offered me the chance to develop my sub-editing, design and multimedia skills.
In November 2006 I was given responsibility for leading the integration of the department’s output with the newspaper’s website. In December 2006 I attended a seminar on multimedia conversion led by Sarah Schantin-Williams of Ifra Newsplex, the company behind the Daily Telegraph’s new “hub” design newsroom.
2003 - 2006
Hull Daily Mail
Feature writer
Previously, I was employed as a feature writer for the Hull Daily Mail. The role involved writing a wide variety of features.
I wrote a weekly column in the newspaper about the area’s social and cultural scene, and was shortlisted for the feature writer of the year category in the Yorkshire Press Awards 2005. I was awarded the “Highly Commended” title.
I was involved from the early stages with the development of the Hull Daily Mail’s Total R&R weekly lifestyle, arts and entertainments magazine in the summer of 2003. The magazine was shortlisted for the 2004 Press Gazette supplement of the year award, and was rebranded in 2005 to The Guide. In 2006 it won the supplement of the year title.
The position involved writing everything from celebrity interviews, lifestyle and fashion pieces, to theatre, music, film, food, travel and exhibition previews and reviews.
Notable interviews included: Sir Bob Geldof, Mo Mowlam, Alan Bennett, Sir David Frost, Sir Alan Ayckbourn, Britt Ekland, Quentin Blake, John Godber, Bill Wyman, Jacqueline Wilson, Francis Rossi, Lesley Garrett, Maureen Lipman, Ray Galton, Rodney Bewes, Jimmy Doherty, Janet Street-Porter, Simon Armitage, Joan Bakewell and Frank McCourt.
The post also involved writing human-interest and health features for the weekly Home & Family supplement, and property/interiors features for Home, the newspaper’s property magazine.
In March 2005 I completed the Peter Sands subbing course at the Press Association’s training centre in Howden.
In April 2006 I completed a law refresher course with David Banks (co-author of Essential Law For Journalists) at the Howden PA centre.
2002 - 2003
Derby Evening Telegraph
News feature writer
This role concentrated on news features – working as part of a six-strong team of writers and sub-editors devoted entirely to news feature pages in the Derby Evening Telegraph.
These features offered the opportunity to examine issues in fine detail, and to write about them in a colourful way.
There was a wide scope for human-interest features as well as in-depth investigations and more light-hearted colour pieces.
2000 - 2002
Derby Evening Telegraph
News reporter
I joined the Derby Evening Telegraph as a trainee reporter. I was given the position after winning a national writing competition run by holdthefrontpage.co.uk
I gained a lot of journalistic experience during my time as a cub reporter – from so-called "death knocks" to court reporting - these years gave me an important foundation to my career.
In 2001 I attended Sheffield College to take part in a three month NCTJ course. I passed all six aspects to the course: with a distinction award for the law element.
In 2002 I passed the NCTJ shorthand exam for 100wpm, using the Teeline method, and in 2003 I passed the NCE.
Higher Education
1999 - 2000
Cardiff University
MA in Journalism Studies
The MA in Journalism Studies was a one-year postgraduate course based at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.
The course included a combination of practice and theory, writing, subbing, technical training, HTML website design and advanced academic study.
The course included lectures/seminars from the likes of John Pilger, David Yelland, John Humphries and Huw Edwards.
1996 - 1999
Liverpool John Moores University
BA (Hons) in Literature and American Studies
The course was a modular joint honours degree in literature and American studies.
The literature part of the course developed a range of critical skills through reading a wide variety of texts from different periods.
The American studies element developed a good understanding of the history, politics, literature and culture of the United States.
Contributor to Writing Features
- an academic study of feature writing, which was published by Sage Publications in March 2006
Author of Bygone Chester: A History in Pictures
- I wrote the commentary to accompany this set of old photographs of Chester. Published 2008.
Author of Bygone Liverpool: A History in Pictures
- I also penned the commentary to accompany this set of Edwardian photographs and postcards. Published 2008.
Author of Walking The Wolds Way
- a travelogue-cum-walking guide to the Yorkshire Wolds Way, recounting my 80-mile walk in the rain. Published 2007.
Author of The Mole Of Edge Hill
- a history of the tunnel network created beneath Liverpool by Victorian eccentric Joseph Williamson. This had also been the subject of my first degree dissertation. Published 2006.
Author of Island Life: A History of Looe Island
- a history of this small Cornish island, from its early monastic inhabitants, to the 18th century smugglers who used it as a place to stow their booty. Published 2006.
Editor of Postscript
- Cardiff University’s postgraduate student magazine 1999-2000
Winner of the American Studies Centre Essay Award 1999
- an award presented by the American Studies Centre, Liverpool, for an essay on the history of America’s atomic monopoly. The prize included having the essay published both in the centre’s national magazine, and online at www.americansc.org.uk