George East

To start at the beginning, George East was born on Hayling Island but grew up in Portsmouth where his mother ran a boarding house for fairground workers, circus entertainers and other interesting itinerants.

He left school intending to become a rock god, and his band met with early and moderate success when they performed as a support act to Billy Fury, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

After coming second to a 14-year-old trumpeter playing selections From South Pacific in the Butlin's All-England Search for A Star, The Rockin' Hot Rods struggled on until a short-circuit in George's home-made guitar resulted in a catastrophic loss of all the group's equipment when the venue

To start at the beginning, George East was born on Hayling Island but grew up in Portsmouth where his mother ran a boarding house for fairground workers, circus entertainers and other interesting itinerants.

He left school intending to become a rock god, and his band met with early and moderate success when they performed as a support act to Billy Fury, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

After coming second to a 14-year-old trumpeter playing selections From South Pacific in the Butlin's All-England Search for A Star, The Rockin' Hot Rods struggled on until a short-circuit in George's home-made guitar resulted in a catastrophic loss of all the group's equipment when the venue caught fire.

George helped launch one of Britain's earliest commercial radio stations, working as a producer and DJ with, among other more well-known names, Kenny Everett. He became Editor of Food and Drink Magazine, was also a Marketing Executive for a large brewery and a freelance journalist. He has been a regular contributor to French Property News for the past 20 years.

George started writing about France 30 years ago when having organised the first ever Ferry Trade Show to Cherbourg, he fell in love with Normandie.

He now lives and writes on a small island in the south of England for half of the year. His travels through France and other foreign parts take up the other six months.