Philip Dixon's formative years were spent around the banks of the River Tyne in the north of England and later on farms in the area in the 1950s and 1960s. He describes himself as "first and foremost a dairy farmer" and has spent much of his working life farming and managing dairies in England and France, and has owned and run a chambre d'hote in France. In addition to farming, Philip has renovated houses, appeared on television and radio and had articles written about him in Farmers Weekly. Presently, he lives in Dorset with his wife, Heather. He has four children of his own and is stepfather to three more, all of whom are now adults. When he wrote this book, he was working in a special needs school, which he describes as an incredibly rewarding experience.