Welcome to The Creative Works of Roger Shakeshaft

Roger Shakeshaft was born in July 1933 in the coastal town of Carnarvon, North Wales. A dedicated mathematics teacher for much of his professional life, Roger inspired young minds until his retirement in 1983.

Retirement, however, was not a slowing down — it was a new beginning. Roger’s wife Sylvia was already a postcard dealer of some national standing and he joined her enterprise, turning his sharp eye for detail toward stamp and book dealing into a thriving second career.

In 1989, Roger and Sylvia embraced another adventure, relocating to the breathtaking Isle of Skye. There, together, they ran a welcoming guest house for five memorable years, sharing the beauty of Skye with visitors from around the world.

Roger describes himself as “something of a late developer.” It wasn’t until his mid-80s — following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease — that he discovered a profound new passion: poetry. What began as a personal outlet became a powerful creative voice. Through poems and sonnets, Roger explores an extraordinary range of themes — from national celebrations and reflections on history, to the lived reality of a limiting illness, to deeply personal meditations following Sylvia’s death in 2022.

A defining memory that continues to shape his work is witnessing the historic Four Minute Mile in Oxford in 1954, when Roger Bannister broke the barrier at 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds. Bearing witness to that extraordinary moment has been the catalyst for a number of Roger’s poems, blogs and essays — not only about Bannister himself, but also about the lesser-known runners on the day and the rise and fall of the Imperial mile race.

His writing is thoughtful, honest, and quietly courageous — proof that creativity has no age limit, and that even life’s most difficult chapters can give rise to beauty.

Please note - website is under construction (2026)