Can you remember what was going through your mind?
Every emotion I suppose, but mostly abject terror. Although I understood that I was badly damaged, I was just grateful to still be alive. It took ten minutes for my parachute to land, and my injuries were not helped by constant collisions with the emergency pack that was tethered to me. Having landed somewhere near Helmsley, due to a mix up, it took three hours to locate me, whilst all the time a totally separate NATO exercise was going on overhead, a bizarre experience!

So was that it for the RAF?
Well, the accident happened just 18 months prior to my anticipated leaving date. I’d broken my back, amongst other injuries, and recovery was quite slow and very painful. The prognosis wasn’t good. I suppose it’s part of my nature to prove people wrong, so after a long period of recuperation and physiotherapy I regained full mobility. I even took up martial arts and achieved a red belt in Tai Kwon Do for good measure.

So you decided to become a farmer - did you have any experience?
Absolutely none! On day one, we took delivery of 100 sheep, already in lamb, and a sheepdog. I bought a correspondence course in how to farm them and went from there. Though we did quite well, and produced some wonderful quality Cornish lamb, I swiftly realised we weren’t going to make the decent living I needed to supplement my small RAF pension. I converted a couple of farm buildings into holiday cottages to secure a regular income, and then, on the spur of the moment, decided to purchase 8000 vines to plant a vineyard. That was in 1989.

A vineyard in Cornwall?

Camel Wines, a great success

Yes I know! The locals all thought I was barmy, too! However, I attended a training course to learn how to tend vines and was pleasantly surprised when our first vintage won a bronze medal in an English Wine Association competition. I’m a great one for reading manuals, I had to be fully briefed in the RAF, and I still refer to all the manuals before every job we do at Camel Valley. Similarly, whenever I order new equipment, I always request the manual in advance

Were there any other qualities from your RAF days that were especially relevant?
Perseverance, obviously. It’s all very well winning awards, but you still have to go out the next day and do the hard work in all weathers. Furthermore, always do a job when it needs doing and don’t put things off.