I grew up in Thurnham, just south of Lancaster, where my Dad’s side of the family stretches back generations. My great-grandfather’s family owned the windmill in Pilling (now converted into a house) and my grandfather established the two garages in Cockerham, and liked to invent things, including a petrol economising device for which he was awarded a patent in 1937.
My Mum’s side of the family is quite exotic. My grandmother, Nina Luschwitz, was born in India to parents with German, Portuguese and Indian heritage, and had two children before her husband died in a motorcyle accident. My grandfather’s family had emigrated from Dublin to England, he joined the army during the Second World War, and after Sandhurst was posted to India where he met and married my widowed grandmother. They moved to Lancaster after the war, and had twins, one of which was my Mum.
I went to Cockerham primary, then Garstang High, and then the Grammar for sixth form. After a gap year working and travelling (and drinking) I went to uni in Nottingham and stayed there to start a design magazine. After a few years I joined a London based PR firm and worked with big clients like Braun, Microsoft and Woodland Trust.
I got married to Nayeli in 2004, with a wedding in her home country of Mexico. I worked at a startup, and then started my own with a friend. I travelled to London every week for four years, but with two young children that wasn’t ideal, and so I’m happy to be working here again.
Growing up I wanted to live in New York, and I didn’t think I’d be living in Lancaster now, but as I walk to the office in the shadow of the castle, with the Ashton Memorial catching the sun on the hill, I can’t help but feel I made the right choice to return.
This post first appeared in the Lancaster Guardian, where I write a column.
