he was born in hammersmith in 1935, and his father drove a coal wagon. he grew up playing in brass bands in yorkshire, and notably was principal cornet of the world-famous black dyke mills band from 1956 to 1961. his transition from brass bands to orchestral work was helped with stints with the hallé, the royal liverpool philharmonic orchestra and the lemare orchestra. he held the position of principal trumpet with the bbc northern symphony orchestra (now the bbc philharmonic orchestra) from 1961 and in 1977 joined the london symphony orchestra (lso) as principal trumpet, a position he held for 30 years until his retirement in 2007.