Michael Dudley interview

Michael Dudley (Grandad), Me

What do you like about trees?

I always wanted to work with trees or with wood. I like the smell and the feel, the texture. But in 1951 there were no openings.

The only way one could do this is go off to Bangor college run by the forestry commission I think with the university and I didn’t have the right school certificates.

So you wanted to work with wood?

I didn’t know whether I wanted to be involved with tree planting and tree growing or making things with wood. So our careers master did me up with an interview with a sore mills where a lot of wood was used by cabinet makers around Strapen von Aven but when I had the interview he said come back in 10 years time. So much timber in Britain was cut down during the war to make aeroplanes and other things that until the next lot of trees have grown up and are ready to be used there are no openings for people who want to work in a sore mill. We are doing our best to keep the business going but we couldn’t consider taking on someone. So that was the end of that.

So I did something else…But then I got interested in wood carving when we lived in Stafford and I went on a course for a year. An evening class that was. Between leaving school and going to do National Service I made 4 pieces of furniture.

Do you have any in your house?

You’ve got one piece. Well you had in your house and we have got 3 pieces.

Which is the one we had?

It was a small wardrobe. Stood about 4 ft high and had a hanging space on the left hand side and shelving on the right hand side. I don’t know where it is, you have probably got rid of it, I can’t remember now. That was one piece. The bookcase on the hall landing I made, my bedside locker I made. I’ve got something else but I can’t remember what that is. I think it is a small table.

So you just enjoy working with the wood?

Yes. I like the smell and I like the feel of it. I like the grain and texture of it. But I do like and I do spend a lot of time taking photographs of trees. In the winter or through the seasons.

You do lots of walking and orienteering and stuff, what do you like so much about being around trees?

I like the smell, texture, appearance and I actually think that I prefer naked trees to those covered with leaves. Because you see all of those intricate patterns. A number of pictures I have got are of trees in winter.

Do you have a favourite type of tree?

No. No favourite trees.

But you favourite thing about the trees is the patterns?

Because I have found that, I have been for some walks and I have found that I like the curviness that the branches of the trees make and stuff.

Yeah that’s what I meant. The patterns that you can see in the winter months. And I like to try and identify as many of the different trees as I can. I’m not as good as I would like to be. And so various people have given me books about trees.

Yeah we have.

Yes!

Do you have any stories about anything that has happened with a tree or when you were in the forest? Is there anything like that?

I’d have to think about that…

We used to like climbing trees and having swings from trees.

In the rural areas you have special ladders for climbing fruit trees. They are quite wide at the bottom and quite narrow at the top. If it is a very long ladder it can be very whippy. There is a lot of movement in it.

On one occasion, I’d be about 20/21, I was asked if I would help hang spotlights for a woman’s institute concert in the village hall. I got one of these pair of lamps, I managed to get to the top of the ladder and hook it onto the brackets from which it was to hang but the whole of the time that I was doing that the ladder was swaying backwards and forwards and then side to side and the people at the bottom were saying ‘are you alright??’. ‘No Im not!’. Hold on, we will get someone to help you. The fire brigade arrived. They had to put up a ladder on either side of me and stop the ladder swinging and then help me down the ladder.

It made the local paper-I haven’t got the cutting.

With trees specifically I used to have quite a number of photographs of different types of fungus that grow on trees and that started with on our YHA friends who is a botanist and now lives out in Australia. His occupation is mapping and recording all the flora of new south wales. He is considered to be quite an expert. But before he went to live in Australia he lived in London and he took us on a fungus hunt in and around 7 oaks. We went to Noal park- somewhere I have got a lot of photographs I took of the different types of fungus I found on that weekend.