For the first 40 years of his life, Peter led a fairly conventional life. Born in 1924, he grew up in Rugeley, Staffordshire where his father was a GP. He served in the Far East during the Second World War and then went on to study at Harper Adams Agricultural College. In 1955, he met and married Anna and settled down happily to dairy farming. However, Peter became increasingly concerned about the direction that post-war farming was heading. In the early 1960s, Peter appealed to various animal welfare organisations to campaign against veal crates and battery cages. They refused, so Peter decided to do it himself.