Steve, 68, live in the sticks a few miles outside Bude, do all the cooking and get praise, 43 years wed, two grown-up kids, fiendishly interested in geology,* meteorology and mildly in astronomy but only good enough at maths to do biology, leftie, Labour Party member, play traditional music on the harmonica half-decently, bad back, curious about everything, enjoy life...

Have lived in Lancs, where I come from, still got the accent, then London including the East End, then near Epping Forest until we came here in 1986. Have worked in the East End, Walthamstow and Holsworthy (Devon), all in secondary schools teaching science. Attained a senior position as a team leader marking "A" level biology essay papers for the University of London. Oh, and on Radcliffe Parks...

*Good round here. Upper Carboniferous Bude formation (massive sandstones and thin shales), Crackington formation just down the road, all that lovely plutonic stuff on the Cornish moors and the regional metamorphism around their edges, slate around Delabole and Tintagel and on my roof, fantastic volcanics around Pentire with some super pillow lavas full of vesicles, multicoloured slates around Padstow and Daymer Bay, evidence of Variscan orogeny everywhere...