My passion for LPE started at a very early age.

When I was younger pubs were magical, mysterious places where you almost felt you were entering another world – crossing the threshold through an aged front door into a smoky, predominantly male environment. It was the gateway to another dimension – and very much an adult one. I wasn't quite of the sitting on the front step with a glass of pop and a bag of crisps generation that had to wait outside while Dad had a pint, but pubs really were just for grown-ups and that's probably why I was so fascinated.

It was probably the smell that hooked me first. Anyone who knows an old English pub will relate with that smell of old wood, stale beer and cigarettes while the whiff of home cooking wafts from the kitchen. Fresh cut grass triggers a smell from childhood of recently tended beer gardens and if I close my eyes I'm back in the first pub I remember visiting in the 1980s.

You always notice the little things as a child. I fondly recall the flashing lights of fruit machines, bricks on the bar full of matches, colourful language and raucous laughter but also recognising that it was a haven for people to relax and switch off from the world. However, I also noticed a darker side when, aged 8, I saw a bloke sitting at the bar with a Bowie knife firmly on display in a sheaf. I instantly realised this was someone not to trifle with and the world wasn't just the safe bubble that my parents had created for me. I also quickly recognised the diversity you encounter out in the world and that all different types gravitate to pubs. Life is full of characters and the cross-section of society in the shape of old boys at the bar, young blokes filled with testosterone and savvy City girls quaffing Chardonnay all play their part to make up the rich tapestry of the London pub.

Subconsciously, other activities as a child were a catalyst for the fascination with pubs such as Pub Cricket. My parents are both from the West Midlands and to pass the time on long car journeys to visit relatives the family would play the game where any Royal link was a wicket and anything with legs was a run. As an example The Three Crowns counted as three wickets (which was a right touch) and The Jolly Farmer with a picture on the pub sign of the farmer holding up a pig would count as 6 runs. You were always hoping to pass The Cricketers if it was your turn to bat.

The community importance of pubs was always impressed on me too. They were vital places for people to meet and get warm; not just for heat but to stave off the chilblain of loneliness. Other than the cinema and dances there weren’t a lot of other options and pubs were the place to go to socialise. I was always surprised but humbled that pubs opened on Christmas Day. They provided somewhere for people with no family to go and that really struck a chord with me.

Pub life was in my blood. For many years my Grandad was a Transport Manager for Watney's Brewery organising delivery of beer to pubs across Birmingham and the Old Man was also a part-time assistant Drayman when he was at college.

In my early 20s I started solo Urban Exploring (UrbEx) around east London as I'd always had a passion for the East End. In my opinion nowhere in the country has such history, mystery and varied culture. I've never been interested in the Lords and Ladies in the Palaces of Westminster but felt an affinity with the average man, their struggles, their joys and sorrows that they would have toasted or drowned in London's thousands of hostelries. What struck me most while pounding the pavements with my trusty A-Z in hand was the number of closed, derelict and abandoned pubs. I couldn't compute how so many architectural gems and assets to the community could be left to rack and ruin. This got me even more interested in who the people were that drank, worked and lived in these places. This hobby of exploring, burning off the booze and getting a tan also expanded to the rest of London and to championing open pubs.

I'd always wanted a medium to display my photographs and engage with like-minded people. I was getting tired of seeing yet another picture of Big Ben, the London Eye or the Shard on social media. That for me is not the real London and I wanted to tell the story of the real palaces of my great City, where everyday issues are sorted out, where people come to live everyday life as a Londoner - not through a tourist’s lens. Instagram gave me that platform and its success has led me to create www.londonpubexplorer.com

I thank you for taking the time to read this bio which I hope sets the scene for my website. It is very much a work in progress and I hope you enjoy a slice of pub life on this corner of the internet.

LPE, East London, March 2021.