Stephen Ben Cox was born and brought up in the rural West Country and took his 4-years honours degree in fine art with art and architecture history at University. After teaching at a leading British public school he then became a  British Council post-graduate Scholar and researched for a year in Romania (this was during the Communist dictatorship under Nicolae Çeauşescu). On return to the UK he taught in secondary schools  then took his Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE: state teaching qualification) at University and then was the production manager for a small independent British film.

 

He has been a teacher in the state and private education secondary sectors and in further education in variouys parts of the U.K. He directed summer schools for foreign students for many years.  For several years he was an interior designer/ decorator/restorer. (working mainly on Victorian and Georgian houses in Reading but also in London, Henley-on-Thames,, Devon, Hampshire, Berkshire, and Shropshire). He also designed and ran conversion projects of various buildings.

 

He was also a professional artist (painter and sculptor) creating sculpture, installations, reliefs, large and medium size paintings with mixed media,  and also watercolour miniatures. For several years he was very happily working from a large studio in a rural location, often working a 12+ hour/7 day week. This also entailed extensive travel exhibiting his art in many one-man exhibitions all over England, Wales and Scotland for 25 years, sometimes with a small team of assistants. Additionally he took on apprentices; and also organised a scheme to arrange for artists to visit schools. He delivered several lectures about his art. His main themes were the cycles of time and rhythm of the seasons in the modern and prehistoric farming year, creating paintings, reliefs, large sculpture and miniature water colours. He frequently visited and studied many prehistoric sites in across England and Wales as part of this. He was interviewed about his art in many local radio shows across Britain.

 

Over the years he has written extensively in the fields of history, heritage, ancient religions, prehistoric & ancient sites, folklore, mythology, customs, traditions etc. This includes several small books and over 600 articles. He currently writes a monthly article for his local parish magazine (local history alternating with local wildlife). And is writing a website on North Wiltshire history.

 

In the field of international education he devised and ran: distance learning courses; heritage lectures;  residential programmes for students from all over Europe; cultural tours; ancient sites visits; as well as many group student heritage adventure expeditions to Dartmoor. He also taught English as a Foreign Language with various companies  for several summers,  and one year was a director managing 3 centres. In 2002 and 2003 he undertook lecture tours to the Netherlands and Belgium talking about his approach to philosophy and spirituality and also about Dartmoor. Also a film was made about a 1 week Dutch group course he ran on Dartmoor.

 

He is a member of ALCS (the Authors Licensing & Copyright Society) and of DACS (the Design & Artists Copyright Society). He was a director/member of the Board of Management of the latter regularly attending its meetings in London. He also briefly ran its news and presented DACS findings/proposals to the Parliamentary cultural reps of all 3 main parties for the Copyright Act.

 

Currently he founded and runs the local Neighbourhood Watch; was a Police Custody Visitor with Thames Valley Police Authority then with Wiltshire Police Authority(Police & Crime Commissioner); runs Studley & Derry Hill Wildlife Group; & Derry Hill & Studley Conservation Group. He wrote the initial outline environmental policies for the local Neighbourhood Plan then put together a working group which produced the researched submissions.

 

And he offers private tours of his garden as well as wildlife studies and gardening education. He is also available to give lectures on: history;  heritage; spirituality. He can be consulted privately on: garden landscape design; and also how to make sacred spaces.

 

He is very supportive of and works with good causes such as: Parish Magazine, student volunteering from the universities of Bath, Bristol, Bath Spa, West of England ; Wilts Volunteer Connect; Wilts Council unit for those with learning difficulties. He strongly believes in the power of Nature and gardening to improve society, enrich human experience, strengthen spirituality, turn lives around and aid the healing process.

 

He is a life-time member of the Woodland Trust; the RSPCA, the Ramblers Association, and the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

 

His love of landscape, wildlife and gardening began as a child in the hills and valleys of his native village. A series of memoirs of life in 1950's rural Gloucestershire is being written. He is in the final stages of writing a major book on life coaching/self-help: "The Keys of Life".

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