I was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, whilst my father was an officer in the British Army fighting the communists during the “Emergency”. We lived in various places in Malaya and Singapore until I was eight, when we returned to England. My father was then posted to Nottingham, where he retired from the army. Living in the Far East was an idyllic life for a child – school from 8.00am to 12 noon and then all afternoon at the swimming club. Even going to school in an army truck guarded by two soldiers with rifles seemed quite normal!
My mother and father met in Lancaster during the war and were married in 1946 at Thurnham, near my mother’s home.
When I was 11 years old, I went off to board at St Antony’s-Leweston, near Sherborne in Dorset. Being an only child I loved boarding. After getting 6 “O” Levels I went off to secretarial college in Oxford and then worked for a year for A C Nielsen Marketing Research before going off for two years to live and work in Barcelona. I then returned to England and worked as a PA in London for 11 years.
It was in London that I met my husband, and we were married in 1979. We have three adult children – two boys and a girl. We also have three golden retrievers and a Patterdale terrier; and have a free range poultry business.
We moved to Ellel in August 1997 and it was more or less then that I became interested in local politics. I was elected to Lancaster City Council as one of two Conservative councillors for the Ellel Ward in 1999 and 2003. When the County Council Electoral Divisions were changed towards the end of 2004, I decided to stand for the new Lancaster Rural East division and was, thankfully, successful - being voted onto the County Council in May 2005.
