I am a retired architect, town planner, urban designer and a widower with two children and three grandchildren.

The main topic of my Fellowship in 1967 was major urban development close to transport interchanges (railway and bus stations) in city centres. This was an issue of special interest to me, because in 1965 I was appointed by the new London Borough of Lambeth to lead a special mixed urban development team for key localities including Waterloo Station, South Bank and Brixton town centre. Having recently graduated in architecture and also enrolled for an evening course in town planning, this spurred me to a different career path – and into applying for the Fellowship, to North America.

The activities at Lambeth brought me into close contact with the Greater London Council (GLC). Subsequently in 1970 I was asked to apply for the GLC's new position of Area Planning Architect for Central London. Eventually this became a multidisciplinary team of architects, planners and traffic engineers. Thus, my role finally encompassed the future of all the central London termini and enriched districts including King's Cross St Pancras, London Bridge and Liverpool Street.