Where do you start? Some interests are age-related and are possibly a phase to be experienced and some interests are for life.

Apart from the music, which was present from being a very young child, most of Phil's interests have been broadly those of mechanical interest or those of a natural interest. When asked about any interest in sport, for example, the answer is usually "I like wintersports which include skis or blades - including bobsleigh, luge, skeleton etc, or else it has to have a gearbox, so include in that, Formula One, World Superbikes and Moto GP!"

AVIATION

Throughout his teens, and living only a bike-ride away form Barton Aerodrome, near Manchester, Phil was able to watch the local flying club activities either from the aerodrome itself, or watch the small aircraft overflying his home about 3 or 4 nautical miles away.

Following a visit to the new terminal building at Manchester International Airport (then "Ringway" Airport) in 1964, he embarked on a two or three nights a week cycle to Ringway - a 34 mile round trip. This continued until first, he passed his motorcycle test in November 1967 and then his driving test in February 1968, after which the frequency of visits may have only dropped slightly, but the comfort factor increased severally!

Despite the interest in aircraft and having watched the transition from predominantly turboprop to jet propulsion, Phil was very reluctant to fly. Full stop. To someone who has flown regularly all their life, someone elses reluctance seems irrational - but that's how it is.

This was the state of affairs until April 1996 (what is a mere 30 years between friends) when he decided to bite the bullet and have a trial flying lesson at Shoreham Airport in West Sussex. Now, after 13 flights in a 4-seater Piper Warrior ll and 18 flights in the last 6 years as a passenger in commercial jets, the reluctance to fly has long since diminished and he intends to resume where he left off his flight instruction for his private pilot's licence at some time in the future (perhaps when he has sold enough CDs to pay for it maybe!)

ASTRONOMY

Ironic that this website is being developed just as Sir Patrick Moore celebrates 50 years of "The Sky at Night" on BBC television. Phil's curiosity of things "astronomical" was present, as in most of us, from his early recognition of the patterns of stars in the winter and summer sky and this was enhanced following a visit to the London Planetarium when he was about 11 or 12 years old.

He still believes that the two best ever Royal Institution Christmas Lectures were given by the late Carl Sagan - Professor of Planetry Studies at Cornell University and Eric Laithwaite - Professor of Heavy Electrical Engineering at Imperial College (the inventor of the linear motor and the "MagLev" principle) who presented the lectures entitled "Engineer through the Looking Glass". Two experts on his two favourite subjects.

Phil maintains his interest in astronomy and currently owns a computer controlled Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope. Always happy to discuss astronomy and encourage younger people to take an interest in what may become a very satisfying lifetime's hobby, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2003.

The next update will include amateur radio, motorcycles and tractors (!!)

Do call back soon.