Mike Springate

I have been writing poetry since my school days at Marylebone, where one of my English teachers, Tom Blackburn (himself a published poet) induced me to start versifying.


My other great love is music. Evacuated in 1939 from London to Burnham-on-sea, I became a chorister aged four and have been singing in choirs ever since. highlights include Oh, for the wings of a dove in Wells Cathedral and several operas at Oxford University (where I even found time to read English, including Anglo-Saxon).


After two years with the RAF - a brief period when they needed National Service aircrew, sending me from Cranwell to Canada - I joined BOAC as a graduate trainee. Here I was posted all over the world in various managerial capacities for thirty-three very enjoyable years, during which I married twice (Nina from Brazil, Audrey from Cookham) and produced a son, Christopher. Sadly, all three died and I remain a grumpy old widower in Cookham Dean, where, of course, I sing in the choir of St. John the Baptist.