David Atkinson

I was born and raised in the Lake District, England and now live in Carlisle, Cumbria (the county that contains the Lake District). The Lake District is a English National Park and after changes in county borders made in 1974 it is now entirely contained within the county of Cumbria. I was born in our family house which was on Whinlatter Pass in the middle of a State owned Forest. My mother ran the house as a guest house and my father worked as a forester.

I went to primary school in Braithwaite, the village at the eastern end of the pass. When I was 10 we moved down into Keswick (pop. 5500) and I went to Keswick School when I was 11. I moved away at 18 to University in Manchester, starting my wanderings before coming back to Cumbria in 1990, to live and work in Carlisle. I like the Lakes best on a clear winter's day when you can see for miles, the wind cuts through you and there is hardly anyone else around. I love it when it snows though, the snow accentuates all the gullies and peaks on the fells and gives them a surreal appearance. Oh, we call the hills fells, it's a Cumbrian thing. With the Lakes being a protected area, the buildings are largely as they were 200 or 300 years ago, and all new buildings have to be built to the same style, unless you can persuade the "powers that be" otherwise.

I like to travel and learn about an area and it's history, so my holidays tend to be on the move rather than "sitting on the beach". I usually go with my brother Bob and so far we have been to Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Canada and several European countries. The USA, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are on my list and I have relatives in all of these countries, as well as Canada. In the late 1990s I had a couple of holidays to Ibiza with friends. It was fun, but not sure I would go again.

I like pop, rock, reggae, ragga and some dance. My favourite music is quite varied. As for TV, I usually watch films, documentaries, science fiction and comedies. Digital TV has been a boon for me. I used to have Satellite TV, subscribing to Sky, but they have priced themselves out of my interest now. I may have satellite TV again, but I won't be subscribing to Sky.

I enjoy cooking and entertaining at home, and I also like casual evenings out such as concerts, the cinema, the pub or a club if I am with friends.

For my sins I am a fan of Carlisle United, a soccer team playing in the English and Welsh Football League, but this is due to county patriotism. From the age of 11 to 22, my main sport was Rugby Union and I was a tight head prop, for the informed among you. From 22 I've mostly played 5 or 6 a-side soccer, and mostly in goal. I've been quite a JourneyMan goalie, playing for a Catholic church in the Carlisle Christians' Football League (I'm an atheist!) and several other organisations and companies that I don't have direct connections to, including recently Crown Corkers in the Carlisle Astro Soccer 6 competitive league. I have now co-formed The Separatists in the same league for Summer 2007.

I've been on the internet since 1994 and I started my website on 17 July 1996. In 1999 I joined ICQ and have been lucky enough to meet many friends through it. I was then even luckier to meet Clare through it in June 2001. We fell deeply in love, moved in together in January 2002, I proposed in July 2004 and we got married on 6 November 2004. Sadly, days before the wedding we were told Clare had terminal stomach cancer. We went ahead with the wedding, but Clare died 12 days later. Please feel free to visit this site dedicated to Clare: http://www.clarewashere.co.uk

I have mulled over my beliefs/tenets as part of my grieving/recovery process and decided to document them.

I wouldn't like to leave Cumbria again, as it is great to be able to get to the countryside in minutes and go walking. Having said that, I didn't think I would leave Cumbria until I met Clare, so who knows?

David's Index

Email the webmaster