The cogs of nature

“Well I grew up wild and free Walking these fields in my bare feet

There wasn’t no place I couldn’t go With a 22 rifle and a fishing pole Well I live in the city but don’t fit in You know it’s a pity the shape I’m in But I got no home and I got no choice Oh Lord have mercy on a country boy”

So sang Don Williams on Lord Have Mercy on a Country Boy. It has resonance for Rob Collins, who though now a fully fledged country boy could be said to have a foot in both camps.

Rob, 49, grew up in modest circumstances in and around Bristol. As