ALASDAIR DV MASSIE C

FAMILY

I am married to Nicky, my wife of five years and my partner of thirteen. She works at North Herts College, teaching English as a foreign language, and has recently designed a new teacher training course.

We have one son, Alex (5) and a daughter, Felicity (1). Alex is in the reception class at Ashwell Primary school and enjoys football, swimming and designing fantastic machines of the "Heath Robinson" school.

Felicity is up and walking, talks volumes (though we are never quite sure what she is saying) and is showing maternal instincts already through her extensive doll collection.

I am the second of five children - two boys and three girls. My eldest sister, Jocelyn, fixes sick computers. My brother Iain is a PhD Biologist, now teaching in secondary school. He made his debut as a wildlife film maker two years ago with his contribution to the BBC's "Cleverdicks" and has since followed that up with "Monkeys on the Rock". Amanda and Sandra, my younger sisters, have both become company secretaries - Amanda for WS Atkins, Sandra for Berkley Homes.

My father, Alec, sadly died in 1998. My greatest regret is that he did not live to see his grandchildren. A fiercely patriotic Scot from the Kintyre peninsula on the west coast, he was brought up in a small farming community by his mother. His father, a gardener for Lord Largie, was killed at the Somme when he was only four years old. He gained a scholarship to Kiel school, became an accountant and moved south to work for British Titanium Products.

My mother, Olga, comes from a very different background. The eldest of five children, and the only girl, she grew up within the shadow of the Rowntrees factory in the bustling city of York. It was here that she met my father, through their shared passion for Scottish country dancing.

Jocelyn and I were born in Stockton on Tees, while my father was working at BTP's Grimsby plant. We moved to Liphook in Hampshire when I was one year old and this has remained the family home ever since. To my mind Liphook is one of the most beautiful parts of the country. Perched on the edge of the Weald, close to the western end of the South Downs, it is surrounded by heaths and woodlands preserved by poor soils and the military. I only hope that pressure of development doesn't ruin it in the future.

For pictures of my family click on the Family snaps links

Family snaps