I am a director of AWL Images, a specialist travel image photo library. I have worked as a soldier, expedition leader, travel writer and professional photographer.

My Fellowship was an expedition to follow the stories of British people who took part in the 1896 Klondike Goldrush – an extraordinary slice of history in a remote part of the world, where all reason was abandoned in the pursuit of gold – and to record the adventures that went with finding gold.

Vast numbers of people flocked to the Klondike, a mosquito-infested creek in the wilds of Canada. There were paupers and aristocrats, bank clerks and bunko-men, and Flora Shaw, the Times correspondent who crossed the Chilkoot Trail in long skirts.

I had travelled to Alaska on an expedition previously and experienced the redoubtable pioneer spirit that prevails amongst those who live in the far north. I followed the stories by following in the footsteps of the Klondikers, hiking over the Chilkoot Trail and travelling the length of the Yukon river in an inflatable boat. I have written magazine articles and lectured many times about my expedition and the extraordinary period of history I was studying.