All About Me
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Writing is my passion! I enjoy writing about my experiences and take pleasure in sharing my knowledge and expertise. Writing allows me to indulge my devotion to caring for animals, growing fruit and vegetables, and enjoying life in the countryside.
Life and career
At the age of six months, I moved, with my parents and older sister to Singapore, where my father was stationed in the Royal Marines. Our family remained in Singapore for almost two years before returning to West Yorkshire, where I attended school before embarking on a career as a Personal Assistant for a firm of solicitors, where I learned how to type and take shorthand. My early career also saw me working for a firm of Stockbrokers before marrying Mark at the age of twenty-one.
Three years later, our first son, Sam, was born, followed by David in 1993. My career changed enormously after the birth of my children. Initially a stay-at-home mum, I wanted to contribute to the family’s finances whilst remaining with my children, so I embarked on a career as a childminder, working with my mother in a converted building in the garden of our home.
Fifteen years later, when my mother decided to retire, I started looking for my own nursery, and finally, in 2010, I purchased a 57-place children’s nursery and found myself employing over twenty staff. My business empire expanded, and after five years, I owned a small nursery chain comprising five settings across Yorkshire, employing more than 50 staff.
In 2013, I set up a training company with my youngest son, teaching predominantly childcare, although the company has since expanded and now offers a variety of courses. Four years later, a second training company was set up specialising in continued professional development.
In 2022, I sold my nurseries and retired from the industry; however, I continued to work part-time with my son in the training companies alongside running a smallholding with my husband. In September 2024, I retired completely, and my husband and I moved from our smallholding in West Yorkshire to embark on new adventures on a smallholding in North Yorkshire.
In my spare time, I enjoy writing novels and practical books.
I am a columnist and write a weekly column for the Yorkshire Times as their Smallholding Correspondent. I also write regular smallholder features for All Things Country magazine and Country Squire Magazine in addition to writing about companies that specialise in merchandise for the country lover with regular write-ups in these publications.
Allison and Mark have been married for thirty-eight years and live in North Yorkshire with their four dogs and various animals. In addition to their two sons, they have two beautiful granddaughters, Alina and Clara who love to help out on the smallholding when visiting!
My current projects
My latest novel
I have always wanted to write a novel from a very young age. After publishing my first two psychological thrillers with a hybrid publisher, Blossom Spring, my third thriller was accepted for publication by Indie publishers, Bad Press Ink.
My Husband’s Child is due to be published on 27 September 2025.
Smallholding handbook
Running a smallholding is something that quite simply crept up on me. The unplanned transition has always interested me due to my love of animals; however, the reality of caring for animals every day is much more challenging than the dream!
Whilst summers can be enjoyable with the long days and warm nights spent in the paddocks grooming and really getting to know the animals, the winter months are the complete opposite when it is a race against time to get the animals housed, fed and watered before the sun goes down, often battling the elements and this is when the absolute determination comes in.
My book, Free-Range and Flourishing—The Smallholder’s Year, will be published by Quiller Publishing on 14 October 2025.
Country living diaries
In addition to my passion for animals, I also love interior design. I have taken immense pleasure in transforming my current home, an old farmhouse with a new extension in the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside.
We moved into our current home in North Yorkshire in November 2024 and immediately sorted the land for the animals. Although we have a wonderful stable block, there were no fenced paddocks or field shelters when we arrived, so we spent the first few months making the land suitable for our animals. Once the outside was done, I turned my hand to the interior, giving it a fresh lease of life and bringing my own style into the house, injecting it with a new lease of life!
Championing self-sufficiency
Many people, particularly after the pandemic, have started to reassess their lifestyles, with a focus now very much on a healthy work-life balance. That is how I personally became interested in growing fruit and vegetables.
Although I have always enjoyed gardening, it wasn’t until I owned land that I could pursue this passion on a larger scale. I now have a small orchard with apple, pear, cherry, plum, greengages and soft fruits, along with an area used for growing various vegetables, which feed our family and provide treats for our animals!
I would love to turn one of our paddocks into a wildflower meadow in the future, so watch this space!