Maurice was born in 1941 and brought up on a dairy farm in Corney, near Bootle in the south west of Cumbria. When he married in the early 1960s he moved to a Forestry Commission farm in the Eskdale area  where he kept sheep and cattle. He lived there until his retirement a few years ago, he still keeps an interest as the farm was taken over by his son.
Maurice remembers his father buying their first tractor, and having an early interest in wildflowers, which lead to a lifelong interest in photography. He noted changes brought about through modernisation of agricultural practices and use of chemicals.
Maurice had pleasure in watching the wildlife whilst going about his farming work, observing  birds, badgers and foxes; and commented on the changes to bird numbers since his childhood.