He maintains an eclectic interest in heritage of all kinds, including (but not limited to) historic houses and gardens, museums and galleries, steam and diesel heritage railways, bird and nature reserves, and upland and coastal landscape history.

An experienced professional archivist, Keith has lived and worked in Yorkshire for over 30 years. From 2003 until 2014 he was county archivist of North Yorkshire, and successfully led the service in building new community partnerships through a period of accelerating change. In 2014 he was appointed by the National Archives (TNA) as Engagement Manager for the North of England. Working from a home base in the Yorkshire Dales he delivers TNA’s sector leadership role, supporting archives of all kinds in the North East and Yorkshire, and liaising nationally with archivists working in historic houses. Past involvements have included the Yorkshire Archives Council and the Yorkshire Cultural Consortium; currently he is a council member of the British Records Association, and a member of University of Durham’s Collections Committee.

When time permits he enjoys researching and writing local history, and undertaking annual voluntary surveys of breeding birds.