From early childhood, I developed a love of nature and the outdoors. My fascination with the natural world grew into a passion for studying wildlife. My natural history explorations involved climbing the trees and sea cliffs around my home in East Sussex. Climbing big trees and sea cliffs evolved into a serious hobby of rock climbing.
In my working life, this led me to choose a career where I could be outside, working with nature and trees— a path which eventually led me to become a professional arborist.
I began working in forestry, first in timber extraction and then in woodland management for nature conservation. I moved on to work for a firm of tree surgeons in London, combining my forestry and climbing skills. I then went to formally study arboriculture and become a fully qualified arborist at ‘Merrist Wood College’ for land based industries in Surrey.
I worked for several companies in the south east, to gain experience, before quickly realising I really wanted to work for myself. I set up my own business, developing my own client base, eventually covering an area from greater London to East Sussex and West Kent.
I have since added to my skills by studying and receiving professional training in traditional hedge laying and green woodworking, or the art of bodging, as it is more properly called. I continually keep up to date with the development of new ideas, techniques and equipment within the tree industry.
I now live and work southwest France. Based in Limogne-en-Quercy in the Lot, Wildwood covers a large area including the departments of Lot (46), Aveyron (12), Tarn-et-Garonne (82), Tarn (81), and Haute-Garonne (31). We will also consider travelling further for large tree work.