With a background in music and a degree in linguistics, I have had a lifelong passion for music, words and language. I am Festival Director of the Newstead Live Music Festival, which I am transforming into a community event which encourages younger - as well as older - people to engage at all levels.

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Within the space of barely 12 months, I have lost two of my favourite people - Nick Hudson and Dave Stratton. The workshop on cryptic crosswords is, in part, an homage to Nick. Although he can't be replaced, I'm hoping to encourage a couple of others to engage in this mind-bending pastime.

 

My homage to Dave is this web site. Dave encouraged my interest in computing, and we spent many an hour debugging my puny attempts at coding.