I was born on 31 March 1974 in Reading, Berkshire, UK. My mother was Cherrie Bramwell, a zoologist and palaeontologist working at the University of Reading. She specialized in the study of Pteranodon (a kind of pterosaur, often confused with pterodactyls) and was quite famous in her day. My father was Bob Speer, a physics lecturer and researcher in spectroscopy, who worked at Imperial College London.
We moved to Maidenhead (also in Berkshire) when I was a toddler and my parents separated soon after. I grew up with my mother in Cox Green, Maidenhead in an old white bungalow with a big garden and visited my dad at weekends. My best childhood friends with Keith Kildare and Robert Harding. I recently reconnected with Robert on Facebook but I have no idea what became of Keith, sadly. I went to Lowbrook Primary School (now Lowbrook Academy) in 1979 and then Desborough School (now Desborough College) in 1985. They were very happy days, especially the Lowbrook days. I miss them!
In 1990 I studied for a year at The Henley College, a sixth form college, in Henley-on-Thames over the border in Oxfordshire, and then at Windsor & Maidenhead College (another sixth form college, now called Windsor College) but I wasn't mature, motivated or interested enough to pursue an education and left after a year. In 1992 I got a job at Waitrose (a slightly posh UK supermarket chain) in Maidenhead and stayed with them for about four years.
Having developed a fascination for the countryside and ancient mysteries of Wiltshire (Stonehenge, Avebury, white horses, crop circles etc.) and itching to move away from my home town, in 1995 I transferred to the Waitrose in Marlborough, Wilts, and lived in Chippenham, about twenty miles to the west. Every day I used to drive along the A4 past Silbury Hill and the Cherhill White Horse. Great days - you just can't beat being 22 years-old!
In 1997 I moved to Exeter, Devon, and lived with my mother for a while who had moved there the previous year. I have lived in Exeter ever since. For the next twelve years I continued to work in various supermarkets. Getting tired of retail I decided to move into more admin/office-based work and have done various stints as a temporary contractor for BT, the NHS, South West Water and The Insolvency Service, among others.
Bob retired to Lyme Regis in 1997 and now runs a second-hand bookshop, The Sanctuary Bookshop.
Cherrie was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2019 & I moved back home to care of her. I hope for her to remain in her own home for the rest of her life. We live in a little white mobile home, with our white & tortie cat, Poppy.
I am single and have no children. I am currently taking a year off work to completely clean & renovate the house & garden and hope to return to full-time employment after that.
Hobbies: I am a computer geek. I love the Web and enjoy programming. I also have a passion for retrogaming. I enjoy reading, watching DVDs & cycling (to keep fit).