About Us
We are Stephen and Helen Jones and we live in Weymouth, Dorset. This is on the south coast of England. We have three grown-up daughters and no pets.
Stephen was born in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and grew up in the Scottish Highlands before moving to Skewen, near Neath in West Glamorgan, Wales. He attended Bishop Gore School, Swansea, when it was a all-boy Grammar School. He took a B.Sc in Physics and Astrophysics at the University of Leicester followed by an M.Sc and Ph.D in Physics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He currently works for the Defence Company QinetiQ at Winfrith and is still interested in Astronomy even though his day-to-day work is involved with the Oceans. Steve has undertaken Family and Community History courses with the Open University and has also been an Open University Oceanography Tutor. He is also a Fellow of the Institute Accoustics and a qualified 'whale watcher'.
Helen was born in Wokingham, Berkshire and grew up in St Ives, Cambridgeshire. Her late mother, Poole-born Mary James, was deputy Headmistress of St Ivo Schoolthe largest comprehensive in Cambridgeshire at that time. Her late father, John James from Aberavon, was a Psychologist with the Ministry of Defence and a respected historical author and military historian. She spent her childhood exploring battlefields and attending Literary dinners! After attending St Ivo School and the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, she took a B.Sc.Econ in International Politics at the University of Wales, Aberystywth. Later she read for an M.Ed with the Open University. She currently works at the The Keep Military Museum, Dorchester which satisfies her continued love of history and research.
.We share a number of interests. Family and local history is our main hobby and a summary of our 17 years of research can be found on this website. Helen is particularly interested in the social history of Dorset and Glamorgan,and the development of names; Steve's area of expertise is the nurses of the Crimean War. Helen is a voluntary Dorset On-Line Parish Clerk, transcribing records for this excellent free family history service. Steve runs the Orchin One Name Study.
We enjoy travelling too and particularly love France. This ties in with our enjoyment of wine, cheese and good local food. We have recently discovered the Picos de Europa in Northern Spain, and Amsterdam is a favourite family destination. We like culture, cities, wildlife and great scenery but hate sunbathing, swimming pools and theme parks! Within the UK we are drawn back to coastal Pembrokeshire time and again.
We are both enthusiastic, if very amateur, photographers and our cameras go everywhere with us! See our photos on flickr. Steve is a keen birdwatcher and we enjoy walking and nature in general. Dorset is a wonderful place to live if you like wildlife and beautiful walks. Our house is within 10 minutes walk of the sea.
Our other shared interests include music and we are reliving our youth by going to concerts. Recent highlights have been Procul Harum, Robbie Williams, The Moody Blues, The Beautiful South, Kylie Minogue, Keane and Genesis. We went to the 2007 Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium too and are looking forward to The Police and Roger Hodgson later in 2007. We are also trying to appreciate art and visit galleries whenever we can. Kandinsky at the Tate Modern and Velasquez at the National Gallery are two recent London exhibitions we have especially enjoyed. We are experimental cooks, sometimes too experimental and tempers can heat up with the stove when we try to cook together! The saturday night curry is usually a success however.
If you share our interests or have common links with us, we would love to hear from you. Email stephen at sign dorsetbay dot plus dot com or helen at sign dorsetbay dot plus dot com (using a . for dot and a @ for at sign!)