I began weaving at the age of 12 as a hobby at my Quaker boarding school in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire. I was taught by Ruth Harwood, a maths teacher, and the weaving room was a wonderful place of creativity and refuge. I went on to pass GCE O Level weaving in 1958.

My grandfather gave me my first 4 shaft table loom and it transpired that he came from a large family of weavers and spinners. His own father sold a piece of cloth each week in Halifax "piece market" to provide for the family after they became unemployed when the local mill closed.

More recently, my teacher in Oxford was Janet Phillips who now lives and works in East Anglia.

I weave in a small studio at home and also with a group of weaving friends in the barn of Anne Addyman in Sandford on Thames.

Most of my work is for practical use and I particularly like patterns that can be developed on the loom.