"Wednesday evenings during the 1950s was an exciting time in my childhood home. The Mothers' Union would come and sit around a huge frame in the front room, making whole cloth quilts to raise funds for the church. I could watch what they did and if I sat quietly I could listen to the gossip.
When I was 15 I started work in Coynant Colliery alongside my Dad to train as an assistant collier but because I was good with my hands, I became a fitter.
In the '70s there was a series of strikes and I was bored stiff. I thought about doing an embroidery picture. I had the techniques in my head so all I needed was materials. Without money I had to raid the airing cupboard for a pillow case as the background and my wife's knitting bag for wools to use as threads.
I enjoyed myself so I went and bought kits to make but after a while I started disagreeing with the designers' ideas and started making my own. I learned new skills and it was fun using the threads and materials to create images.
One of the high points of my stitching life was when I embroidered the wedding dresses for our daughters, Marie and Suzanne. Because I worked so closely with the dressmaker I joined a City and Guilds Dress Design Course and I was able to make Christening gowns for our grandchildren too.
Not bad for someone who spent 20 years working underground up to my elbows in oil and grease. "
