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Margaret Woodward - Ralph Woodward, husband

Born into a farming family in north east Scotland I graduated from Aberdeen University and headed for London to work in the Oxford University Press Children’s Books Department. From there I switched to teaching, marriage and motherhood while following my husband, a government scientist, round England and Scotland.

I have written all my life and on many different subjects but especially on countryside matters, travel and local history. As a sideline to teaching I produced many unrelated articles for local, regional and national papers, several government-level reports and had contributions commissioned for a biographical dictionary of writers published by St James’s Press.

My teaching varied from A-level English in London to running a preschool in Scotland before retraining as a primary teacher, taking in adult postal tuition on the way. We are now settled back in Morayshire, living in a house we built beside a five acre wood we planted.

I am currently a volunteer guide and publicity officer with the National Trust for Scotland, the country’s largest charity. As education guide at a nearby 16th century castle I co-wrote a comprehensive Victorian project now online at www.ntseducation.org.uk which is used widely by schools both locally, who include castle visits, and abroad.

Recently I began ‘puppy walking’ for Guide Dogs for the Blind (UK). Our first pup is now a working Guide Dog and the second has gone into stud. Terrific enjoyment and satisfaction is the reward. It gets us outdoors and exercising and has brought us many new friends – and lots to write about.