Its difficult to remember when I first got involved in building, I remember helping my grandad lay a concrete path when I was about three. Grandad had one of those sheds that was a big heap of interesting looking things - but he know where everything was. I especially liked the grinding wheel you could crank round by hand. Grandad also had a 'Wonderland of Knowledge' with diagrams of how sewage systems worked, and what was inside a power station.

When I was seventeen I went to a work-camp at the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham. This taught me a lot about building sites, and even more about managing people; we had Czech students there when Russia invaded Czechoslovakia.

As part of what was meant to be a 'sandwich course' at Sheffield Poly, I attended an apprentice training course at International Harvester which taught me turning, welding and many other workshop skills.

In 1975 I got involved in Housing Co-ops in Liverpool, and did a lot of re-wiring and patching up of old houses. We were tenant caretakers of a Georgian house in Canning Street, which was great fun 'cos we could try out all sorts of things knowing the house would be renovated in the near future.

We also looked after a house on Princes Road, where I added plumbing (and home security) to my list of skills. When the co-ops direct works team went bust, we were given a lot of the left over materials, some of which came in handy years later.

In 1977 we bought a terraced mill house in Hebden Bridge and started to put it to rights. I designed and installed all the plumbing and full central heating - a first for me. We also ran around on the roof pointing the chimneys while the scaffolding was up for the re-roofing - it was a 40ft drop at the back and I was not confident about my roofing skills. In the end we got a full re-roof for free, thanks to some advice from a friendly solicitor. It was during my time in Hebden Bridge that I made my contribution to posterity by having the word 'curtilage' defined in law.

In 1996 we moved to Clay Cross, where the building works continue. When the kitchen, and Sue's workshop are sorted, and the loft boarded, we intend tackling some sort of drainage/water recovery system, and rebuilding the walls round the garden. We also have all the windows to overhaul, and possibly replace, not to mention a garage and outhouses that need rebuilding, and a tumbledown stable......