I was born in Bolton in Lancashire, my early years spent living on a farm in the moors, and then the family moved to Ormskirk outside Liverpool. I left the Northwest to study Chemistry at York University, but also pursued my interest in classical singing at the same time. Following graduation and gaining a PhD at York, I moved to London to follow a scientific career in biomedical research. As a scientist researching skin cancer I worked at RAFT in Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood in Middlesex for fifteen years. Now back in the North in Cumbria, I have developed my artistic passions, although I continue a scientific interest and continue to publish scientific papers.