Born in London, Nockolds was largely a self-taught artist. Described as one of the pioneers of motoring art, Nockolds began sketching and drawing motoring subjects in the mid 1920s, contributing illustrations to Autocar, Motor and Motor Sport magazines. Although best known as a motoring artist and illustrator, he was in fact a highly versatile painter, who worked on landscapes, portraits and, bizarrely, studies of dogs. During the Second World War Nockolds served in the Royal Air Force, becoming an official war artist commissioned to do work for the Ministry of Information.