Enjoying the educational benefits extended to working class ‘baby boomers’, Tim put aside 11-plus failure and came to Lancaster in the sodden autumn of 1968. The partially-built Bailrigg campus resembled a muddy Klondike town without the gold. In those days only 5% of the population went to university. Here, Tim would meet his future wife, Liz. It was a time of world-wide unrest. Martin Luther King had been assassinated. The Prague spring was crushed by Soviet tanks. Paris seethed with student and worker revolt and an impassioned British protest about the Vietnam war turned ugly.

Tim graduated in 1971, with a degree in Religious Studies. Having decided not to pursue a life in holy orders, Tim trained to be a social worker at Leicester University. He began work with Rochdale Social Services in 1973. Over a twenty-year social work career, Tim became a child care specialist. As a children’s services manager, he set up a joint child protection service with the Surrey Police in 1988, an important development at a time when social work was under fire on account of several high-profile tragedies.

Because of his increasing caring responsibilities for disabled and seriously unwell relatives, Tim moved into adult social care planning and performance review in 1990, working closely with health, housing, voluntary organisations and users and carers in setting up housing support and other shared care services.

Upon retiring in 2010, Tim dedicated more time to writing, building upon the writing skills he had developed at school with the help of an inspirational English teacher.

Tim has supported Burnley FC since his Lancaster days. In celebration of the club’s promotion in 2000, its chairman agreed to meet the publishing costs of Tim’s first book, ‘Forever and Ever: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Years Diary of Burnley FC’ which sold out. Tim’s subsequent five books were published by commercial publishers, Know the Score books and Pitch Publishing:

‘Never Had It So Good’ is about Burnley FC’s incredible top-flight title triumph in 1960, with eight of the victorious team helping tell the story. Despite Burnley’s floundering textile and coal economy, its premier football team flourished, producing some of the best football then seen in Britain.

‘Underdog!’ is a collection of heart-warming tales of League and Non-League football teams punching well above their weight.

‘From Orient to the Emirates: The Plucky Rise of Burnley FC’ covers the club’s dramatic rise from the brink of oblivion in 1987, defying huge odds in becoming a top-flight side once again. The story is told by players, managers, directors, fans and the press.

‘Bent Arms and Dodgy Wickets‘ is about the controversies besetting Test cricket during the 1950s, including suspect bowling and ‘patriotically prepared wickets’.

‘Stumps & Runs & Rock ‘n’ Roll’ is a personal account of growing up and older with English Test cricket and popular music.

Each book has been well-received by national magazines, national and local press and their readers. The five commercially-published books described above were written to raise funds for local good causes and national charities such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s UK, Cancer Research UK and Prostate UK. All resulting royalties have been donated to these causes. They are available via established book shops such as WH Smith’s and Waterstones, or are obtainable on-line or from Pitch Publishing.

Tim can be contacted by email: tjquelch@hotmail.com