My name is TIM THOMAS and I proudly say that I am a Wiltshire peasant! Meanwhile, I live in London and am in the lucky position of being at home in the great city and also in the wilds of the countryside.

I have travelled widely and my journeys have been illumined by a love of the natural world. Happenstance has led me to Peru, Mexico, Afghanistan, China, Zanzibar, Russia and to jungles, deserts and The Arctic Circle. Some years ago I abandoned flying in an attempt to live a more green life so currently my journeys are a bit shorter. I know this country from Land’s End to John O’ Groats, aften touring as an actor in outdoor shows and experiencing the most beautiful landscapes, mighty castles and the most imposing great houses that our country has to offer.

Some of my most vivid memories are of the wildlife spectacles I witnessed in exotic places. There were towering elephants in Nepal, breathtaking Grey Wales in Baja California and an enormous herd of migrating Wildebeeste in the Serengeti. But then again, some of the wonders of the Peak District in Derbyshire (where I lived for a time) can match any of them. One evening I stepped out of my cottage and walked up the path towards the mighty mass of Kinder Scout. The sun was just setting. Reaching the top of a rocky rise I was confronted by a chattering mass of starlings sweeping over the fells. There were tens of thousands of them. They were snaking their way just a few feet above the ground. The sound of their beating wings was almost deafening. I stood transfixed for at least a quarter of an hour as this amazing host swept by me. Some powerful force had persuaded them that it was time to leave Sheffield and commute to Manchester! What a privilege to see such a spectacle just a few hundred yards from my home.

Maybe I was born to boogie. I have never trained as a dancer but found I had a love of it whilst at university. I was performing at a cabaret in Oxford and afterwards people came up and asked which conservatoire I had learnt my moves. I had to admit that I didn’t know I had any. Later, in Manchester I was a disco champ at a club frequented by The Hollies and the late great George best.

Adept at Brazilian Samba I have performed in The Notting Hill Carnival over a number of years. Once, however, I was strutting my stuff and feeling that I was in the joyful spirit of the occasion when someone in the crowd yelled “Come on Pops, you can make it!” I hope he died a cruel death.