Neil Groves was born to Ann and Keith Groves on March 22, 1963 in Cambridge. The family moved to the Island when Mr Groves was three years old and he spent his childhood growing up in Cowes, attending Denmark Road, Somerton Middle and Cowes High Schools. On leaving school he took an apprenticeship at Westlands, later becoming GKN Aerospace. He was a Storeman for GKN at Falcon Yard for his entire working life of almost forty years. Mr Groves was an avid pool player and over the years played in teams for the Woodvale Pub, Cowes Liberal Club, Cowes Conservative Club and Horseshoe Pub.