Guy Sheppard

Guy Sheppard is a graduate from Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he gained a First Class degree in English Literature. After college he taught English briefly but then took control of the family metal finishing business in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, after his elderly father suffered a stroke. For many years he worked on tooling for Rolls Royce, Dowty Rotol and other companies in the aircraft industry. He also renovated brass chandeliers from once-grand Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian houses nearby. Indeed, the plating shop itself was housed in a former coach house that dated from 1832, where, as specified in the deeds, Dorothea Beale, founder of the world-famous Ladies' College, once kept her horse and carriage. In pursuit of his passion for photographing steam engines, Guy and his wife visited a range of countries which included Poland, Russia, Cuba, India, Vietnam and China. Back home he is an avid collector of old station signs from Gloucestershire. For the last thirty years he has ridden horses on the Cotswold hills, particularly around Coberley, which is how his love for the county, its wildlife and people has blossomed.