You’ve reached the personal website of Darren Beale.

I’m a professional IT geek that prefers to be away from a computer whenever possible, either in the woods trying to bring a derelict coppice back to life or in my workshop building & maintaining things made from wood. I’m also hoping to get planning permission to build my own home which if successful will pull me in lots of new directions.

I occasionally post to my blog (mostly photos and short opinion pieces). If you’d like to get hold of me then please do so via email.

If you’re still reading then here’s a few final bullet points about me:

• I run Siftware, a PHP web development company.
• I also do consultancy work on monitoring, metering and control systems for renewable energy installations under the Geekowarriors banner;
• Currently I work part-time from London on the consultancy work with the rest of my time being spent on other projects, my focus being on gaining practical skills doing things that I enjoy;
• In 2011 I became a ‘Permaculture Practitioner’ and together with my wife I am endeavouring to apply Permaculture principles to the various land-based projects that I work upon;
• Originally I’m from Bristol but in my mid 20s I moved to London where I ended up spending 10 years. I left in 2006 have spent the subsequent time moving around to different parts of the country;
• Currently we’re in North Shropshire where I live on a rented smallholding with my wife, 3 kids, 4 sheep, 3 cats and 12 chickens;
• My wife blogs over on Becoming Domestic on subjects such as permaculture and home making;
• I use Twitter now and again, I have a Last.fm profile and I occasionally login to Linkedin. I do have a  Facebook profile but I’ll only accept an invite if we know each other well;