I was a member of the Experimental Firing Group at Leicester University in the 1980s, and helped to explore the use of different fuels for the open firing of ceramics. As a lecturer in archaeology at the School of Continuing Education at the University of Leeds for 16 years I was responsible for teaching and organising extra-mural courses around West Yorkshire and Teesside. Following my retirement I set up the Yorkshire Dales Landscape Research Trust to support community archaeology projects in the area: activities have included copper smelting, flint knapping and lime burning, the last alongside the creation of a 1km heritage trail at Threshfield Quarry. I am working with the Threshfield Quarry Development Trust (of which I am chairman) to develop an open air classroom for experimental archaeology at the site.
