Stephen John Hartley

Stephen Hartley failed his exams at school and managed to get a traditional old-fashioned engineering apprenticeship. This stood him in good stead for a lifetime of designing, making and mending.

He played guitar in iconic punk band NOTSENSIBLES who released a string of singles and an album. They recorded a Peel session in 1980. The North UK post-punk DIY ethic continued to be an influence and Hartley set up back-room label Eli Records. He prints the record sleeves using traditional letterpress and woodblock. He spent five years as a busker playing classical guitar and now he plays in a guitar, bass and drums trio, airing his anecdotal observational songs.

A life-changing event saw him walk into his local college on the day that his daughter was born to do A-levels with a view to going to medical school. He eventually got a place against incredible odds and now works as an ED physician in a Major Trauma Centre.

Throughout, his abiding love of the outdoors has been a back drop - in particular his one-and-half acre organic smallholding.

In a eureka moment one balmy September day, he had the notion to write a book from birthday to birthday using the smallholding's annual cycle as a framework into which he would weave his life stories.

Painting Snails is the result - a heart-warming memoir. He continues to write and is working on his first novel. He blogs regularly at hartleysplot.com/blog and plays gigs with his 3-piece band, promoting his books and records. He makes daft music videos as John Lee Hartley.