What got me into writing my own music was the road protest movement.

I was a passionate environmental activist at university in Sheffield. I couldn’t resist joining the protest at Twyford Down near Winchester in Hampshire.  A whole bunch of us, young and old, were camping out on the land to protect it from destruction by a new motorway.

It was an amazing place, an amazing time and an amazing vibe. We were defending the Down itself, the Itchen river valley, and a very special piece of land called the Dongas – a series of ancient gullies and ridges that flowed downhill from Twyford Down.

These curvy shapes were formed over hundreds of years by ancient nomadic people and their animals.

We lived in circle around the fire under the stars, sleeping in canvas shelters. By day and by night we took different, exciting, creative actions to protect the land.

We went ‘bulldozer- diving’, stopping the destructive machinery by swarming all over it or pouring sugar in the petrol tanks. We snaked across the down under the moonlight, under a homemade, multicoloured ‘Chinese dragon.’ We erected boundary defences like tripods and ramparts.

And in later months we had huge marches with hundreds of campaigners and occupied construction sites. 

.When that land was finally destroyed by the bulldozers, we stayed together as a tribe, walking the land across the Southwest of the UK with handcarts, donkeys, goats and benders. (Benders are portable dome-shaped shelters made of canvas and hazel poles, traditionally used by European gypsies).

We lived together and travelled on foot for seven years, right across the West Country, from Hampshire to Cornwall. We played music more and more, and became better and better musicians.

We joined other road protest camps some of that time, including the direct actions at Newbury, Solsbury Hill and Fairmile.

In between protest camps, we lived more peacefully, roaming through counties, walking up and down hills and valleys, wandering the lanes and ancient trackways. 

We regularly held gatherings at ancient hill forts, Holy Wells, and sacred places, inviting people to come and celebrate with us with acoustic music and traditional Breton dancing.

It was an incredibly inspiring and uplifting time in my life, so different to the way I had grown up in London. It really fed my soul and I bonded with people in the tribe like I had never done before in my life.

I was so inspired that I naturally started writing songs about our way of life, about our beliefs, what we were campaigning for...  about nature and the earth and the seasons and community.

So that's how I got started as a singer-songwriter.

Between us, we played a whole array of musical instruments... Penny whistles, recorders, mandolins, mandolas, guitars, drums. Gradually we shifted to more complex instruments like bagpipes, hurdy-gurdys, accordions and bombards.

A lot of our music was recorded on the Tribal Voices tapes.

We brought a lot of people together in joyful French and Breton Dance events.

But eventually, the tribe broke up in the year 2000. Then I moved to Totnes in Devon with my partner Josh.

In 2005, we moved to Landmatters Permaculture Project in South Devon, a low impact community which we founded with my partner and one year old daughter, and about 15 others.

We created our homes on the land, at first simple canvas benders. And gradually people replaced them with more solid long lasting eco-dwellings.

We lived there for about six years, had another child, set up the communal gardens, started a salad business, and worked the land to create a sustainable collective permaculture smallholding, all off-grid.

It was a tough time, living in a low impact way whilst also having small children and running a business. But I'm glad I lived there, and it's still going strong.

We left Landmatters in 2011 and have lived in the Totnes and Dartington area ever since.

We’re lucky enough to live in a small cluster of houses near the woods and beautiful river Dart, with friendly like-minded people.

We have a community orchard next door with over 100 fruit trees plus soft fruit, nuts, and herbs. We have a beautiful cob pizza oven and two fire circles. We hold seasonal gatherings there - some just for ourselves and for the wider community.

We always hold a Wassail and a Maypole Dance with live music in the community orchard here at Huxhams Cross. 

It's amazing to be in a place where we can continue to revive and reinvent the British cultural land-based traditions, and give more people the opportunity to experience and connect to those. It feels like one of my missions in life.

Most of my life my three passions have been weaving together- nature, music, and community. Most of my music relates to these themes.