Andrew Waterhouse was born 1958 and grew up in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. He turned down a place at Cambridge in order to study at Newcastle University, later taking an MSc in environmental science at Wye College, as well as obtaining a teaching qualification.

Waterhouse was a keen environmental campaigner. He worked on a farm as a young man and, after completing his education, went on to lecture on environmental studies at Kirkley Hall College in Northumberland. In 1998, he bought a 10-acre area of land and began planting a wood upon it.

Waterhouse’s interest in the natural world is reflected in this poem. He also wrote a series of walking guidebooks. Waterhouse wrote verse which explored relationships between parent and child and wider family.

Andrew Waterhouse suffered from depression and, towards the end of his life relinquished many of his interests, citing ill-health. His engaging manner and sense of humour masked his illness. He committed suicide in 2001, at the age of 42.