Oddly, I used to drink with the fellow back in the days when he ran the Maltster's in Tuckenhay and I was working at Schumacher College in Dartington. Or rather, I used to watch him and an equally thirsty friend of mine drink.

Mad as a bucket of frogs, a true eccentric and a complete wastrel. Great entertainment, nasty temperament.

He's about to open a restaurant in Thailand, and still does cookery classes and tours. He probably holds the record for the greatest number of restaurant failures in one lifetime - largely bankrupted by the owner's propensity to drink the cellar.