Julian was born on September 22nd 1966 at the City Maternity Hospital in Carlisle and lived the first few months of his life at the Lodge, Lime House School, Dalston. For the next 2 years he lived on Hartshill Road, Stoke-on-Trent, during which time his sister, Clare, was born.
He then spent 7 years at 2, Hawthorn Villas, Alsager from where he was a pupil at Excalibur School. Very early in his life he was made sharply aware of his dad's limited capabilities as a result of a young student being very much better than his dad at removing a recalcitrant bicycle tyre. Julian also anticipated his later philosophical propensities when, on hearing the Beatles song All you need is love, he declared "That's not true! You need food and toys."
In 1976, Julian's family moved up to Orkney, spending weekdays in the Janitor's House, in Kirkwall, and most weekends at the being-renovated-ruin, Everybist, on Rousay. He greatly loved Orkney, where his brother Magnus was born, and was quite upset when his family moved back to England after 2 years.
In England, Julian attended Rivington and Blackrod High School for 2 years before moving to Carlisle [70, Aglionby St.] and attending Trinity School. During this period, Julian was introduced to the songs of Bob Dylan, which not only had a profound effect on his musical tastes but also greatly sharpened his social and political awareness. Julian then bought, and taught himself to play, a vintage Fender Telecaster guitar. His membership, together with Clare, of the Venture Scout group inculcated a lifelong love of outdoor pursuits.
After his reasonably successful O-levels, followed by less successful A-levels, Julian spent a year at Carlisle Art College which didn't work out but had two worthwhile benefits: he developed an interest in print-making and he met Mark [aka Muppet] who was to be a lifetime friend.
On leaving the college, Julian came up to Rousay, where his mum, dad and brother were then living. He renovated an old barn/kiln as his own tiny home and spent a year making and marketing lino-cut prints of Orkney. Whilst on Rousay, Julian was rhythm guitarist is a band which also included the two Rousay roadmen and was, therefore, called Rocks and Gravel [after an early Dylan song].During the following summer, Julian met Edgar Wilson, an immensely bright philosopher and a friendly, socially aware and very mentally active person, whom his dad had appointed several years earlier to the Social and Educational Studies Faculty of Crewe and Alsager College. Julian and Edgar got on famously and spent many hours in vigorous discussion. A few weeks later, Julian left Orkney, with a couple of pairs of underpants and a couple of pairs of socks, to embark on a BA in Philosophy and Psychology at Crewe and Alsager College. Julian had decided "If that's philosophy, then philosophy's for me. And who better to study under than Edgar.". Partly as a result of an impressive 3rd year dissertation on Music as a Paradigm for Judgements, which incorporated not only philosophy and psychology but also physiology and music theory, he was awarded a 2.1.
Whilst at college, Julian lived on a narrow boat, Black Dog, near Middlewich where the Trent-Mersey and the Shropshire Union canals meet. Then, to take up a job as a care worker at a remand home between Hull and York, he quite literally moved house along the canal to the the River Trent and up the River Derwent. Julian then briefly stayed in a small terraced house in Hull where he was contacted , via Everybist, by, Heather, from Barrow in Furness, whom he had met when a sixth-former. He got a job in a young offenders' institution in South Cumbria, and moved to Barrow where he lived with Heather for the next 10 years or so. He formed, and was the vocalist and lead guitarist of, a band called Guido [which incorporated the rhythm section of Heather's ex-boyfriend's band!]. During this period, he acted in loco parentis for his brother, Magnus, who came down to Barrow with his band for 18 months between leaving school in Orkney and starting college in Glasgow. When Guido broke up, Julian joined a band called 12 ft Machete, in which he played bass guitar and Heather was the drummer. Julian also formed a two-man "fun" band, Skum Bananer [named after a Scandiavian confectionery item], comprising a drummer plus himself as vocalist/lead guitarist. All their songs were related to fruits; this band had a small, but very enthusiastic, local fan-base.
When the remand home where he worked closed down, Julian worked as a teacher assistant in the science and CDT departments of a Barrow secondary school. The staff there were impressed by how well he related to students and suggested that he consider training as a teacher. So he did a two-year course at St. Martin's College in Lancaster which took his knowledge of physics beyond the O-level he had studied at school and also included a PGCE. During his probationary year, however, Julian found the management of classes - as opposed to individuals or small groups - very stressful and he withdrew to avoid being failed. He then obtained work as a teacher assistant in a special school in Ulverston, again related well with pupils, and was encouraged to complete his probationary year successfully in a context whose many challenges happily did not include that of herd control. During this period, Julian formed a new band in which he was, once more, the vocalist and lead guitarist, Heather was the drummer and a friend Howie the bass player with a home-made 1-string bass. Julian named this band after a sign - Runt Hornet ["round the corner"] - that he saw on a campsite in Scandinavia, whilst travelling on his classic, pre-1972, Moto Guzzi 850 cc, V-twin motor cycle to a European Moto Guzzi convention. Julian kept this bike in meticulous condition, skilfully replacing worn-out components himself whenever this was necessary. Runt Hornet paid one visit to Orkney which included a gig at the Rousay Pier Bar/Restaurant where they raised the roof to such an extent that they could be heard on the neighbouring island of Wyre!
A number of life-changing things then happened in quick succession. Julian's brother, Magnus, suddenly and unexpectedly died, from his epilepsy which caused Julian, then 42 years old, seriously to re-appraise his life. Julian was given a spare ticket to a fancy-dress event on Piel Island, in Barrow Bay. Quite by chance, also with a passed-on ticket, Diana who then lived in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, was at this event. Julian and Diana met and were immediately attracted to, and got on well with, each other, and kept in touch via Skype and weekend journeys between Cumbria and South Wales. They soon decided to make a life together and, later that year, on September 22nd [Diana's 40th birthday and Julian's 43rd], they made a commitment to each other. They did this, on a return visit to Piel Island, via a hand-binding ceremony of their own devising. Diana and her daughter Nadine moved up to Cumbria where Julian and Diana set up house in Ulverston, in a flat that was new to both of them. On October 12th 2011, Magnus Merrick Milner [named for his would-have-been uncle] was born.
Such a lot happened during the 10 years that Julian and Diana were together. With the introduction of a less flexible regime at his school, Julian was again finding the role of teacher very stressful, not least because of the amount of unproductive paperwork [e.g. spuriously attempting to show that the national curriculum was being delivered to children for whom getting them involved for any length of time with anything was a major achievement] . So Julian made another key decision: by again becoming a teacher assistant, he could focus on what he was best at, and what he found most rewarding [albeit not financially!], i.e. actively engaging with, and eliciting positive responses from, the children in his charge. On a more positive note, Magnus developed, either via his genes or via his nurture, Julian's capability at practical things plus a similar propensity for asking hard questions and never being satisfied with too-easy answers. Julian and Heather [who had always remained the very best of friends] both joined a local drumming band, Deatbeats, who play not only at local festivals but even as far away as London. Julian, encouraged by Diana, took up print-making again. He acquired some massive slabs of a special, fine-gained, Bavarian limestone and a beautiful, cast iron, Victorian printing press and quickly became skilled at the complex process of making genuine lithographs. Julian also qualified as a Forest Schools teacher and began to take groups of disabled children from the special school where he worked out into local woodlands. Julian and Diana, together with some friends from England, re-renovated the bothy at Everybist and this then became their quarters during their regular stays on Rousay, at Easter and in the summer holidays. In September 2018, Julian was absolutely delighted when he was able to purchase Harlock Woods, a 5-acre area of woodland just 2 miles outside of Ulverston. Julian greatly improved the access by making paths alongside, and bridges across, Rathmoss Beck which runs through the wood. He was then able to do his Forest School work in what had by then become known as Julian's Wood. A Shepherd's Hut, which Julian had himself designed and built, was installed a small clearing in the wood. During this busy period of his life, Julian found the time and energy not only,with a friend, to cultivate an adjacent pair of allotments but also to share his enthusiasm for, and expertise in, canoeing both with Diana's daughter Nadine and with Magnus. Their engaging in this shared activity exemplified just how readily Julian and Nadine related to each other and quickly became part of a single family.
After a hugely fulfilling 10 years, and just a few days after Diana had celebrated her 50th birthday [and, on exactly the same date - September 22nd - Julian's 53rd birthday] with a party in their wood, Julian became ill. A few weeks later, Julian was hospitalised, first in Barrow and then transferred to Blackpool. He was eventually diagnosed with the extremely aggressive Burkitt's lymphoma. After 5 months of being seriously ill, and with a rollercoaster of ups and downs, first in the Intensive Care ward, and then in the Haematology/Oncology ward, of Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Julian's body was no longer able to cope with the ravages of the lymphoma itself together with the repeated sessions of brutal chemotherapy that were needed if the lymphoma was to be defeated. After a sudden overnight deterioration in his condition, Julian sadly passed away on the afternoon of March 22nd, in the loving presence of Diana, Nadine, Heather and, via telephone in speaker mode, Clare, although he was probably not conscious of them being there.