RoSPA Adv. Tutor
My journey started back in April 2016 when I passed my motorcycle test. I was on a family trip to the Winter Gardens at Blackpool where I first saw a Blood Bike and I had a quick chat with them about advanced training. They pointed me in the direction of the Bike Safe which I looked into when I got home that evening. The following year I signed up with Bike Safe at Accrington Fire Station. I thoroughly enjoyed my day there and immediately signed up for an advanced course with the IAM and got a pass with them back in November 2018.
The following day I started with Blood Bikes. I got a phone call from Mark Furnival and my journey began.
I used my own bike for a short time which was a Suzuki Bandit GSF 650 until spring 2019 when I got the nod to use a fleet bike and in the same year I started my training with RoSPA. I got my RoSPA Gold in November.
I was asked to Tutor for my local Group and so my next stage of learning began. I have since become an Advanced Tutor re qualifying with Gold passes and the last two occasions.
I gained my RoSPA Group Tutor qualification in 2020 and then the following year I passed my Advanced Tutor qualification.
Chairman of East Lancs Riders.
RoSPA Examiner
As far as I can recall I have always been ‘into’ bikes. From a youngster with pictures of bikes on my bedroom wall. I remember as a teenager at school daydreaming and looking out of the classroom window in double history and seeing Bike Cops ‘working’ on the the main road outside the school, and thinking ‘I could that do as a job’.
I joined Lancashire Constabulary straight from leaving school as a 16-year-old as a Cadet. I was appointed as a Constable in 1980 and did my two-year Probationary period on foot in a quiet rural area of the Fylde Coast during which I got a good all-round grounding of Police work, having to deal with pretty much everything. Traffic and in particular Bikes were still calling.
Attending Motor Driving School in 1982 for my ‘Standard Driving Course’ literally was an eye-opening experience, seeing and understanding where and how far ahead the Instructor was looking and planning during his first demonstration drive, and the ease with which he manoeuvred through traffic. That was it! I was hooked on Police Driving. From then on it was all about getting on Traffic Patrol. There was the extra responsibility and more importantly to me, the freedom to go out and find my own work as well as dealing with the full range of ‘bumps’ and crime.
My ambition always, was to get on bikes. In those days a bike spot was pretty much ‘dead man’s shoes’ a slot only coming up when someone left or retired. I went on bikes full-time in 1988 and stayed there until I retired in 2010. I must have been doing something right as I was left pretty much to my own devices for the whole period. A round peg in a round hole!
Away from ‘work’ I regularly organise a Ride Out to Scotland for like-minded friends. I love Scotland! Open roads, very often quiet (ish) with room and views designed for ‘Progressive Riding’. Since retiring from the Police in 2010 I have owned and managed my own Boarding Kennel business with my wife, been a volunteer with Blood Bikes and have been a professional riding coach with Rapid.
I joined RoSPA as an Examiner in 1998 testing cars and bikes. I felt at the time and still do, that I received some of the best driver/rider training available free of charge and in addition actually got paid quite well to get the education. I have been lucky enough to perform Escort Duties to the HM Queen, and other members of The Royal Family as well as all serving Prime Ministers from Thatcher to Brown. I aim to pass on some of that knowledge/experience through the new East Lancs RoSPA Group.
I am the Membership Secretary. I started riding on a Yamaha “Fizzy” 50cc back in 1981! I worked through the Yamaha air-cooled 2 strokes and up through to the big 4-stroke water-cooled machines over several years.
I have recently retired from an engineering management position.
I first encountered advanced training after the purchase of a new Honda Fireblade in 1997. Honda offered 2 free days of training during which I realised I knew very little about riding “ properly “. This, despite having 20 years of experience!
ROSPA membership has really upped my game and made riding much more enjoyable.
© Copyright 2026 | Privacy Policy
