A brief history of me
I was born in Bristol in December of 1970 and I lived there until I was about 18 months old with my mum and dad.
my father was a lagger and sheet metal worker and had worked locally for many years in 1972 we emigrated to Australia and lived and moved all over oz north south east and west until i was about 6 years old we then moved to a few other countries before moving back to the uk when i was about 7-8 years old
we then moved with the work my father could find until he changed his career by buying a 10 acer smallholding and becoming self sufficient ( ohh the good life)
this lasted for about 3 years and at the age of 11 we then moved to Penarth s,Wales where my mothers side of the family have always lived.
i have lived in Penarth ever since as its the only place that feels like home.
Starting secondary school half way through the first year and trying to make friends with people who had known each other since kindergarten was hard very hard, however i did make a few good friends 2 of which are my closest friends still today. Deb whom is my partner and Elty who features a lot in my life much to the annoyance of deb. lol
My mother and father split when i was 13 years old and my father went back to Bristol leaving myself my mother and my baby sister in Penarth so i became the man of the house and was left to sort the man things...trying to keep my mums mk1 Capri on the road and running and fixing things around the house.
I was never very academic but always practical and now realise i suffer from what is now known as ......( insert what ever term is going around these days)....
teachers then just thought i was lazy looking back i think the upheaval in my life and the fact my father leaving us at this point in my life may have caused my school life to suffer slightly.
Any way I left school early(actually I was asked to leave as I was lets say not a good pupil) at the age of 13 and started work on construction sites, this went on until the age of 16 when i managed to get myself enrolled into college and start an apprenticeship in carpentry and joinery..this was done with great help of a man could Allen who was a director in the company I was labouring with and also a man could Gerald Williams a contracts manager again in the company (who went on to become my step father later in my life)..
this in itself was a hard decision for me to make as i was working all hours and bringing home very good money.
going to college meant dropping to less than quarter the money i was earning and as my first son was just a few months old, it was quite a low period in our lives..
I continued at college for the next 5 years finishing all the coarse work early and even managing to get advanced craft carpentry and joinery with distinction (I was well chuffed as only 2 of us in that year managed this) and with my inability to be able to spell and use grammar well surprised a few people.
and spent the last 6 months of the apprenticeship fixing things around the collage.
From the age of 21 to 23 i worked in a few places setting up joinery shops so they would actually run well and make a proffit (which 90% dont).
At this time i was starting to get into cars, i had always liked cars and bikes and i had been driving/riding since the age of 13 (yes i know suold not have) and i had started visiting my uncle Paul (not my real uncle but my aunt's husband's brother) at his garage in Cardiff and really liked helping out.
He then had a boating accident and at the time i was between jobs so i helped out even more in the garage and learnt a lot from that..
this went on for a good while and in the next year i continued to help out as and when but i did find a new joinery job in a really run down back street place which i won't name and as i like a challenge tried to turn it around from a failing mess.
with this slightly better stability we decided to buy are first home its the house i still live in with deb and my oldest son jay, we managed to buy the house from my anties and uncles who inherited it from my grand dad when he died in this year.
At the age of 24 in 1994 myself and Gerald now married to my mum started up a furniture stripping and repairing co which also incorporated a joinery this was so boring after working on cars that i started buying fixing and selling cars and bikes on the side from home. and also looking for other things to try and fill my life i did a few hand crafted furniture courses and upholstery courses and also did nvq level 1,2,and 3 in cabinetry making but still i loved working on cars..
at this time i was heavily in to jap sports bikes and doing silly things, things that you shouldn't do on public highways....
in 1999 we decided to sell on the business and move in to fitting kitchens as there was great money in this at the time.
at this point i had been buying, stripping and selling mainly jap sports cars and most of those where mx5s..these were great times for the roadster and you could get good money for a nice 5...
around 2004 i gave up on the bikes after having some very close near misses and watching some very nasty crashes (most of them riding normally and involving sensible safe riders) and started more in to the mx5 scene.
in 2009 a bought out the only competition in mx5s in my local area total mx5 and after joining a few forums including the nutz forum (which i am still a very active member) started doing lots more with the 5s
the last few years have been hard to be honest Deb had a scare with cancer, i have suffered with kidney stones passing up to 6 in a year.
don't ask about the mortgage (endowment) and how we now have 5 repayment mortgages trying to catch up on payments.
i lost my father at the beginning of 2012 which was a real blow and i have never in my life been so uncontrollably upset as we had always gotten on well even after my parents had split
his heart gave up in the end but he had always suffered with his kidneys and he was riddled with asbestosis from stripping out old boiler houses of the deadly blue stuff.
and i was in and out of hospital in extreme pain with the stones and i had decided it was time to give up smoking (could not pick a more stressful time to quit)
we are now on the eve of 2014 and my step father whom i have worked with most of my life closely since 1994 is looking to retire and its well over due we think.
this is going to be a scary year for me and my family as i do not want to carry on fitting kitchens and do however want to turn the hobby i have at home with the mx5s in to a proper paying business and hopefully this will happen in the summer of this year ..
i am actively looking for a small unit with low overheads to work from and think i may have found some ware..
its in barry not the place i was hopping to set up but the unit is part of a 18 strong set up with a few empty units at the moment.
my father was a lagger and sheet metal worker and had worked locally for many years in 1972 we emigrated to Australia and lived and moved all over oz north south east and west until i was about 6 years old we then moved to a few other countries before moving back to the uk when i was about 7-8 years old
we then moved with the work my father could find until he changed his career by buying a 10 acer smallholding and becoming self sufficient ( ohh the good life)
this lasted for about 3 years and at the age of 11 we then moved to Penarth s,Wales where my mothers side of the family have always lived.
i have lived in Penarth ever since as its the only place that feels like home.
Starting secondary school half way through the first year and trying to make friends with people who had known each other since kindergarten was hard very hard, however i did make a few good friends 2 of which are my closest friends still today. Deb whom is my partner and Elty who features a lot in my life much to the annoyance of deb. lol
My mother and father split when i was 13 years old and my father went back to Bristol leaving myself my mother and my baby sister in Penarth so i became the man of the house and was left to sort the man things...trying to keep my mums mk1 Capri on the road and running and fixing things around the house.
I was never very academic but always practical and now realise i suffer from what is now known as ......( insert what ever term is going around these days)....
teachers then just thought i was lazy looking back i think the upheaval in my life and the fact my father leaving us at this point in my life may have caused my school life to suffer slightly.
Any way I left school early(actually I was asked to leave as I was lets say not a good pupil) at the age of 13 and started work on construction sites, this went on until the age of 16 when i managed to get myself enrolled into college and start an apprenticeship in carpentry and joinery..this was done with great help of a man could Allen who was a director in the company I was labouring with and also a man could Gerald Williams a contracts manager again in the company (who went on to become my step father later in my life)..
this in itself was a hard decision for me to make as i was working all hours and bringing home very good money.
going to college meant dropping to less than quarter the money i was earning and as my first son was just a few months old, it was quite a low period in our lives..
I continued at college for the next 5 years finishing all the coarse work early and even managing to get advanced craft carpentry and joinery with distinction (I was well chuffed as only 2 of us in that year managed this) and with my inability to be able to spell and use grammar well surprised a few people.
and spent the last 6 months of the apprenticeship fixing things around the collage.
From the age of 21 to 23 i worked in a few places setting up joinery shops so they would actually run well and make a proffit (which 90% dont).
At this time i was starting to get into cars, i had always liked cars and bikes and i had been driving/riding since the age of 13 (yes i know suold not have) and i had started visiting my uncle Paul (not my real uncle but my aunt's husband's brother) at his garage in Cardiff and really liked helping out.
He then had a boating accident and at the time i was between jobs so i helped out even more in the garage and learnt a lot from that..
this went on for a good while and in the next year i continued to help out as and when but i did find a new joinery job in a really run down back street place which i won't name and as i like a challenge tried to turn it around from a failing mess.
with this slightly better stability we decided to buy are first home its the house i still live in with deb and my oldest son jay, we managed to buy the house from my anties and uncles who inherited it from my grand dad when he died in this year.
At the age of 24 in 1994 myself and Gerald now married to my mum started up a furniture stripping and repairing co which also incorporated a joinery this was so boring after working on cars that i started buying fixing and selling cars and bikes on the side from home. and also looking for other things to try and fill my life i did a few hand crafted furniture courses and upholstery courses and also did nvq level 1,2,and 3 in cabinetry making but still i loved working on cars..
at this time i was heavily in to jap sports bikes and doing silly things, things that you shouldn't do on public highways....
in 1999 we decided to sell on the business and move in to fitting kitchens as there was great money in this at the time.
at this point i had been buying, stripping and selling mainly jap sports cars and most of those where mx5s..these were great times for the roadster and you could get good money for a nice 5...
around 2004 i gave up on the bikes after having some very close near misses and watching some very nasty crashes (most of them riding normally and involving sensible safe riders) and started more in to the mx5 scene.
in 2009 a bought out the only competition in mx5s in my local area total mx5 and after joining a few forums including the nutz forum (which i am still a very active member) started doing lots more with the 5s
the last few years have been hard to be honest Deb had a scare with cancer, i have suffered with kidney stones passing up to 6 in a year.
don't ask about the mortgage (endowment) and how we now have 5 repayment mortgages trying to catch up on payments.
i lost my father at the beginning of 2012 which was a real blow and i have never in my life been so uncontrollably upset as we had always gotten on well even after my parents had split
his heart gave up in the end but he had always suffered with his kidneys and he was riddled with asbestosis from stripping out old boiler houses of the deadly blue stuff.
and i was in and out of hospital in extreme pain with the stones and i had decided it was time to give up smoking (could not pick a more stressful time to quit)
we are now on the eve of 2014 and my step father whom i have worked with most of my life closely since 1994 is looking to retire and its well over due we think.
this is going to be a scary year for me and my family as i do not want to carry on fitting kitchens and do however want to turn the hobby i have at home with the mx5s in to a proper paying business and hopefully this will happen in the summer of this year ..
i am actively looking for a small unit with low overheads to work from and think i may have found some ware..
its in barry not the place i was hopping to set up but the unit is part of a 18 strong set up with a few empty units at the moment.