Patrick's our new star

But he says his forecasts can suggest the time is right for certain things and the choice is yours if you want to follow their lead.

Patrick, 45, has taken a roundabout route to astrology.

From store manager to marketing man, he established a high-flying career well before the age of 30, and it all began in Swindon.

"I still see myself as being from Swindon," he said. "I have fond memories of the town as being a friendly place, and of John Trollope that brilliantly balanced Swindon Town player who had such a neat and economic game."

Patrick was born in Lancashire but his family moved to Swindon when he was a baby.

"My father owned his own business, a French-style restaurant in Fleet Street," he said.

"We lived off Penhill Drive and I attended Holy Rood Primary School and St Joseph's Comprehensive School.

"St Joseph's was brilliant for sport, which I enjoyed thoroughly. I was a right winger in the school football team and a cross country runner, getting a fifth in a Wiltshire AAA athletics meet."

At school Patrick's favourite subjects were history and English, drama and art.

But he opted for the world of work rather than stay on, and went into a management training programme with Oxford and Swindon Co-operative.

During his early days in Swindon, as well as being a season ticket holder at Swindon Town Football Club, he enjoyed jazz at the Town Hall and some of Wiltshire's finest real ale around the likes of the Glue Pot pub in the Railway Village and The Wheatsheaf in Old Town.

"By the age of 28, I had ran a number of stores for the Co-op in the Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire region," he said.

"I did a diploma in distribution, which covered a lot of marketing, and then applied for a job as retail controller for the Co-op in the North West, based in Warrington. By the age of 28 I had 800 people working for me in 27 stores which I absolutely loved."

But just as Patrick was getting into his role after two years, a change around at the Co-op led to a redundancy offer.

He said: "The offer was a lot of money at 30, so I thought 'I've done my bit' and I decided to do something creative.

"I moved to Shrewsbury, renovated an old Victorian house, did marketing work in various forms and went on to become a professional astrologer."

Astrology has fascinated Patrick since he was aged 11.

He said: "My interest started from school. Three of us who sat next to each other had birthdays on January 20, 21 and 22 and that fascinated me.

"I developed a rabid interest in astrology as a young lad and read a lot about the subject over the years.

"I formalised my education by working with an astrological consultant in Shrewsbury called Sandra Butler. It was a slow process, it didn't happen overnight, and it was something I wanted to do more and more."

Patrick uses an Ephemeris a book of tables showing where the planets are at any given time. He then blends the angles of the planets with the characteristics of the 12 star signs, to give forecasts on what the implications will be.

"It's not about prediction," Patrick said.

"It is just about saying to people that this will be their background environment and how they react is a personal choice.

"The forecasts might suggest it is a good time to socialise and if you go out the chances of meeting someone could be strong. But people have got to want to go out and do it to make it happen."

Patrick is fascinated with astrology because he sees it as the background to what makes people tick.

"You need to be analytical and interested in people," he said. "And I strive to write in a way which is understandable to as many readers as possible.

"You may find some astrology will be very specific, but I try to write to embrace everyone's situation."

Look out for Patrick's readings which will appear daily in the Evening Advertiser from next Monday, June 16.