After a career in the Royal Navy spanning over 35 years, my family and I moved to Monks Eleigh in 2012 and we absolutely love it here. I retired as a Captain and during my career I commanded two of Her Majesty’s warships, DUMBARTON CASTLE in the Falkland Islands and a Type 42 air defence destroyer, HMS BIRMINGHAM. I also served abroad in the United States, at the NATO headquarters in Brussels and as the naval and air attaché in Islamabad, Pakistan. On leaving the RN, I worked for local government, then learnt to drive buses and drove for Chambers for about a year before moving to work with the NHS for about 3 years. I retired fully in 2024.