SIMON HEATH THE CRAFTSMAN'S JOURNEY - PART 6

Simon Heath Star of The Crafty Countryman series opens up about his life, and explains what a massive impact art had for him growing up.

In these mini articles we will start from the beginning, and over the following months we will follow his journey from a boy to a master craftsman.

This has not been an overnight success this has been years of hard graft

A fascinating story of a wonderfully talented man

Simon Heath - The Craftsman's Journey in His Words Part 6

Going back to when I was 10 years old, I used to help my uncle milking and doing all sorts of jobs on the farm. It was a great place to learn life skills, from wiring, plumbing, carpentry, metal working, welding mechanics, and all about nature and domestic animals. Dogs, cats, horses and learning all about plants and crops and growing veg.

There is nothing like a farm to give you all of these skills which have served me very well in life. Being dyslexic, my school life was almost non existent as we were just labelled as thick. So, all I learnt on the farm was a life saver. Not only to get away from a rubbish home life but to give me the skills I needed, and for this I have to thank my uncle, aunty and grandparents.

My nan or grandma as I called her, was so kind and good to me. She taught me how to cook, sew and knit. Which has come in very handy through my life. We used to sit in the evenings together by an open fire, doing something. She was never idle, always working and looking after everyone, I really miss her.

SH