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| Me And My Hobbies (Part 2) |
Cycling.
I've enjoyed long distance road cycling and off-road mountain biking in the Devon-Cornwall area for years. I cycled from Camborne to Exeter twice (100 miles) in around 4 hours. I had an Al-Tec framed road racer with Mavic wheels and gears, Campagnolo Delta breaks, Time Magnesium Racing pedals and clip shoes, very classy, got up to 60mph once down a Devon hill! Off-road, I did a lot around Tavistock over the moors on an old mountain bike. |
Horse Riding.
I worked several Summers as a student at a riding stables taking groups of riders out for several hours at a time. It was great trekking through the Holdon woods above Exeter and then finding open ground through which to canter and gallop full tilt. There's nothing quite like feeling the wind rushing past your face and the pounding of hooves! |
Mineral and Fossil Hunting.
I remember as an eight year old arguing with my sister over some polished stones in her jewellery box which fascinated me. During that year we visited Cornwall as a family for our summer holidays, and for the first time I found iron pyrites (fools gold), on a mine tip at the back of Rodder's old miner's cottage in Mount Hawke village where we used to stay. (I never met Alex Parks though, shucks). From then on I was hooked and large portions of our holidays were spent picking over Cornish mine dumps in search of mineral treasures. We met an amazing mineral dealer in Pendeen called Sam Weller who owned the Levant Gallery, a veritable treasure trove of fabulous multi coloured and multi formed mineral samples from all round the world. It was here I spent all my pocket money (and a lot of dad's!) to build up quite an impressive collection in my bedroom while I was still at home. |
| I've also spent hours picking over Charmouth and Lime Regis cliffs and beaches in search of pyritized Ammonites, calcite Bellemnites, Crinoid sections and various bivalves. There's nothing quite like finding a perfect pyrite ammonite gleaming in the Grey Marl like some ancient gold coin. My most prized possession is a section of Ictheosaurus jaw bone, replete with interlocking sharp black teeth, it's a little water worn but unmistakeable. |
| It was because of my childhood interests that I went on to study at Camborne School of Mines (now, sadly a department somewhere in Falmouth University). That was a fun time, hard work, but very rewarding. I just about managed the HND in three years, oh well! But it's been an interesting journey from there into the oil industry, very rewarding. |
| …Back to "About Me" |
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