Like most children who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, wild places were my playground and as a Freelance Mountain Leader living in Cumbria I now spend my summers guiding people in the Lake District National Park. For some of these people, being out in the wild is a totally new experience. I will never tire of seeing them gain confidence and start to appreciate the landscape and nature spread out before them as they ascend. It is as if I am seeing everything in a fresh way through their eyes and I want everyone to get out and really notice the beauty of the world we live in.

I am 62 years old and enjoying a new career in the outdoors after moving to Cumbria and being made redundant - happily, as it gives me more time to be outside in my new environment. I am not a published writer but am developing my skills with the aspiration of reaching a wider audience.