My name is John England and I was born in 1955, when life, so I’m told, was a lot less frenetic and certainly less complicated. The UK was still suffering from the effects of two dreadful world wars, the last of which had ended a mere 10 years previously, and the British Empire was just a memory. I was lucky enough to experience the vast social changes of the Sixties, albeit as a child, and the soundtrack to my early life, like most of us around at that time, was written by the Beatles and countless other great bands and musicians on both sides of the Atlantic.

After a good education in state schools followed by an enjoyable period at a traditional red brick university – Sheffield – I moved on to Law College at Chester and became a solicitor. I had my own practice for a number of years but after 30 years, much of which was spent working part-time so that I could pursue other interests, I packed it in although I still remain on the Law Society’s official roll. I don’t miss it.

I live on the edges of the Peak District, one of the most beautiful parts of our wonderful country and spend a lot of my time enjoying the area whether on foot or two wheels. I make a living as a freelance tour manager taking groups of people on holiday all over the world but particularly the USA and Canada, two fine countries with fine people.

I set up the Common Sense Blog, initially with Google, in June 2011 and, as I stated at the time it serves to “expose some of the absurdities of modern life”. (https://johnenglandcommonsense.com/2011/06/28/common-sense/)

All views expressed are my own, though I may quote others from time to time. I don’t expect everybody to agree with everything I say – why would they?  However, I hope that those views are seen to be honest and based largely on common sense, a virtue which sadly quite often appears to be anything but these days.