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I was born at St. John's, where they lived for a short time.

Once I graduated from university, I wanted to climb and be outdoors as much as possible. I worked as a part-time carpenter and kept up a relationship with The North Face. One thing led to another, and I'm lucky to be where I am now. It was a circuitous path with lots of adventure throughout.

So I picked a field where I had a little exposure. Where I thought I could have an enormous challenge, and have a chance to really do some good, to be a pioneer in an area, and not just be like everyone else.

I studied for my degree in London and consequently ended up spending five years away from Cornwall. I deliberately moved away from the coast to experience a different way of life.

I wanted to go out and experience the fields.

Thankfully I'm not endlessly ambitious, but I have done some crazy ambitious things like buying an island off the west coast of Scotland in the late Sixties.

I have had the good fortune to be able to climb the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. I have enjoyed the freedom I had gained from building a successful business from scratch, making some money, and creating the lifestyle I wanted.

There were a few years there when I was just so enamored with the idea of living some sort of famous person's lifestyle that really isn't suited to me.

I've been kind of lucky. I've always just kind of followed whatever my passion was, and that seems to have led me to better places than if I had followed some career trajectory, which I wouldn't even know how to start.

I just felt that I might to go to university and get some real life. It wasn't stimulating in the same way. I loved being at Bristol, but I missed the thrill of being on set.