Gull Beach

About Stephen

Before We Begin, My Own Story

I’m pleased to introduce this short story Gull Beach, a story about a seagull called Philo who visits a beach every day. The metaphors that appear in this story have been shared with people in different ways over the years—not always in exactly the same form but often as simple ways of talking about change and how people and myself might experience it. As the story finally came together, it became clearer to me that it had been forming across many years. Of course, it wasn’t called Gull Beach at the time, and I certainly wasn’t writing it down. In many ways, the story has been more of a lived experience than a written one and many of those ideas had grown out of my own journey. When meeting new people, it’s quite common to be asked something like, “What do you do?” or sometimes, “What’s your story?” For many years, my answer was very simple: “I’m just a joiner.” That was a perfectly reasonable answer because that’s exactly what I was.

It was the late 1970s, and I had never heard of dyslexia or learning difficulties—something I would later come to understand applied to me. I just knew that school wasn’t a place where I did particularly well. Home life was also a little chaotic, and by the time I left school, I had attended nine different schools and moved between them thirteen times. In fact, I left with only one certificate—metalwork. I remember proudly showing it to my teacher, who informed me rather bluntly that I didn’t deserve it. That seemed to sum things up for me quite well back then.

At sixteen, I joined the family construction business. There, I learned my trade and touched on many others besides. In a family building business, everyone does a bit of everything, and that was simply the way it was. As life moved on, I met my future wife and started to learn how to read better. We got married and eventually started a family. Starting a family turned out to be one of the first real forks in the road. For a time, I stepped away from the building trade to become a house dad while at the same time we bought and renovated our house. During that period, I also began studying more and with that came a growing curiosity about many different subjects. I started researching things simply because I was interested, and that curiosity has stayed with me ever since.

A few years later, the house was finished, and the small research projects I had been exploring came to a natural end. Once again, I found myself at a crossroads. Friends and family began asking the obvious question: “What are you going to do next?” The truth was, I didn’t know. Eventually, someone suggested visiting an open evening at a local college. I thought perhaps I might do something small—maybe an art class one afternoon a week. Instead, I found myself enrolling in art school full time. I loved it. While studying art, I also topped up my maths and English qualifications. A few months into the course, one of my tutors asked a question I had never considered before: “Have you ever thought about going to university?” I hadn’t. In fact, I didn’t know anyone who had been to university, and I wasn’t entirely sure what it involved, still I decided I would try it for a year. My thinking was simple enough, if I failed, at least no one could say I hadn’t tried. As it turned out, I stayed and completed my degree in Product design and at the same time won the RSA design award.

Following that I set up my own design business and over time, I became increasingly interested in the ways people, technology, and change interact. That curiosity eventually led me back to university again, where I continued my research, completing a doctorate exploring how people might manage and live with technological change.

Looking back now, the path that led me here doesn’t feel like something that could have been carefully planned. When I reflect on the journey that eventually led to Gull Beach, the tides have come in and gone out many times. They have taken things away and brought new things with them. But I had to be there for both. These days, when people ask what I’m doing, my answer is usually quite simple: “I’m just getting on with it.”

In the spirit of the story, each day I get up and go to the beach.

Gull Beach

Gull Beach is a short story that uses the life of a beach to explore change. Seen through the eyes of Philo the seagull, it offers a way of thinking about uncertainty, everyday life, and the different ways things can change over time.

Stephen is a researcher interested in how people live with change, particularly the increasing pace of change shaped by technology. His work brings together lived experience, design, research, and metaphor to create thoughtful ways of helping people approach uncertainty and change. Gull Beach is a short story that grows out of that wider work.

Reach out to Dr. Stephen Forshaw for inquiries about Gull Beach.