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After my marriage to June Gowen in 1960 I moved to Wiltshire, where I was assistant Director of Music at Dauntsey’s School, West Lavington, near Devizes, where I taught clarinet, piano & organ, plus numerous other musical duties. During the ten years I was there I took the opportunity to gain an external B.Mus of London University – where my examiners were Herbert Howells, Eric Thiman and Prof Anthony Lewis (RAM). I also gained my ARCO, FRCO and an LRAM in Piano Accompaniment. I begin to compose, winning second prize in the Schnitger Prize Organ Competition in Zwolle, Holland (1964) with my Variations and Passacaglia.

In 1970 I was appointed as a lecturer in the Academic Studies Department of the RSAMD (as it then was) in Glasgow, where I stayed until my retirement in 1995. Whilst there I composed many works for students and student ensembles, which can be viewed at the Scottish Music Centre. After retiring I was involved in overseas mission trips from the Victory Christian centre in Govan (several to Belgium, France and Belarus). In particular, I was invited by a Baptist Missionary pastor whom I had previously known for many years in Glasgow, to go and help with the music in a dozen or more small Baptist churches in the south of Italy -in Puglia, Basilicata and (latterly) Reggio Calabria. I have left my mark there, as many of my arrangements have been published in Italian hymn books!

For many years I had sung with the Glasgow Kedron Singers. In 2010 I took over as conductor, managing to keep the small choir going until its 60th anniversary in 2015, when – because of declining numbers we decided to disband.

Our eldest daughter, Ruth, lives in Kinross and teaches at the Carnegie Primary School in Dunfermline. Our younger daughter, Sally Ann, is a professional violinist (ex-RSAMD & RAM). She played with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra until she married an Australian violinist in 1999. They have lived in Brisbane for many years, where she is a member of the prestigious Camerata of St John’s, Brisbane.