From Bristol to Botswana and beyond

  12th January 2024

The grandson of the man said to be the original Tailor of Gloucester, in the classic book by Beatrix Potter, alumnus Robin Welch has now put pen to paper to tell his own story.

A former student of St Paul’s College, a predecessor institution of University of Gloucestershire, Robin is the grandson of John Prichard, who is alleged to have been the inspiration for Beatrix Potter’s story.

Born in 1945, Robin taught in Bristol and then became an inspector of schools in Botswana, where he published Macmillan Bolewsa Readers for local primary schools. He then entered the world of television, starting Africa’s first pay TV channel in South Africa, and later introducing sport as a pay TV item. He used his expertise to advise on paid television, working in Japan, the USA, and Europe.

He has also worked as a boxing promoter, and a director of Leeds United, and now aged 75, he is still actively involved in TV sport. Robin tells his story of how his teaching career led to opportunities around the world in his new book Bristol (Bristle) Boy and the Tailor of Gloucester.