There were no holidays, no birthdays and a punch in the mouth if you opened it

Dig 77. From West Sussex. Works in printing. workaholic!

How are you? 

I don't think one should ever be totally content. I suppose I wouldn't be working if I didn't like or love my work. I’ve never stopped. I’ve been working since I was 16 to now.  I am a workaholic. I should have given up 12 years ago but as the Chinese say, ‘the older you get the more wisdom you get, therefore you don't have to run quite as fast’. That's what motivates me. I'm not particularly interested in money but obviously, I need to pay the bills. I'm going to carry on until I don't want to do it anymore or I make too many mistakes because I start to forget things.

I’ve been traveling to China once a year for the last 30 years. You learn so much from travelling. I sometimes get a bit annoyed when people in the West run the Chinese down. They are lovely, warm people. The Chinese do as they’re told because there's 1.4 billion of them. If they don't run the country the way they do, they couldn't cope. If 1.4 billion people decided to go on a march, there's nothing they could do. They’d have to run for the hills. They're very tough with their people. It's totalitarian. You do as you're told. They're used to obeying. The culture is just different there.  

How do you see yourself?

Aa an alpha male. I'm quite outspoken. Political correctness never existed in my time. You should be able to debate things and then have an argument as to why, what you've just said is wrong. You have to be so careful what you say, people are very sensitive these days. 

What do you think about marriage? 

I feel a bit terrified about it actually. I've been with my partner longer than most people have been married. Why get married and spoil the relationship we have? Marriage does change people. My parents weren’t married. They were very secretive. It was only in their later years they decided to do it and even then they didn’t tell us. We found out later.

What do you think about children? 

I never wanted children. I wasn’t treated that well as a child and probably thought in my subconscious, I’m not bringing anyone up like I was. It was a different time when I was a child. Life was very formal; we had to shake hands and that was as close as I ever got to my grandfather. I didn't even know my grandparents' names.

I had to shake hands with my father every morning and call him Sir. My father was very Victorian. I don't think I ever swore until I was 20. I’d have got a thick ear if I had. He was a disciplinarian. He would say to my mother, ‘I don't want those brats up when I get home at six’. So I was in bed at six every night until I was 16. My parents bickered all the time. Mother always had the last word. She was very theatrical. Everyone was darling. She was a show girl and a poster girl for ‘Craven A’ cigarettes. It was supposed to be very cultured and sophisticated to smoke in those days. Later when she was riddled with cancer, she regretted smoking. She went to school with Joan Collin’s mother. 

My father was an Olympic ice hockey champion, rugby player and racing car driver. In his eyes we were never going to be as good as he was. My parents were party animals, they had no time for us. We were seen and not heard. That's how they lived. Their life came first. My parents didn't cook. School lunch was the only meal of the day. When I came home it was lemon curd on a big crust of bread for our evening meal. They were mean. 

When I was 16 I bought my first pair of jeans. I wasn't allowed to wear them. I had a pair Italian winkle pickers too. I’d go to the shed and put them before I went out. I used to love Fats Domino, Little Richard and Screamin’ Jay Hawkin they were my music tastes but I wasn’t allowed to play music. We got a television but we weren't allowed to put it on. I once went to the Pictures at lunchtime, my father asked where I’d been. When I told him I was sent to bed. 

I’ve never told anybody this but I was always picked on at home by my father. He used to punch me across the room. I always laughed! It must have been nervous laughter. I was very shy and introverted. If he said something I'd giggle. ‘Don't laugh at me son!’ I’d be shitting myself. He was like this until I was 18. I could have flattened him with one punch but I never did. My brother hit him and after that my father never spoke to him again.  

I respected my parents because I never went without but my father was a tyrant. We didn't celebrate birthdays ever. I never had birthday present in my life. We had everything, but nothing. You had food on the table. We each had a bedroom. There were no holidays, no birthdays and a punch in the mouth if you opened it. It's a bit unfair of me to say that because they're not here to defend themselves but that’s how I remember it. I had no self-esteem whatsoever. He put me down all the time. When he died I was very sad for a while but he did nothing for me. Which is very sad and very wrong because he did a lot. I was sad when my mother died but wasn’t crippled with sadness.  

Where does all your energy go? 

I’ve got a lot of energy. I use it. My energy goes on work and things I enjoy. My preoccupation used to be weightlifting, (I could bench press 400 pounds and do 500 squats. I used to train with Mr Australia, Mr New Zealand and  Mr. London. I started training in Queensland Australia. I trained four days a week every week of the year for 25 years. It was a drug. I just had to do it then all of a  sudden I couldn't do it anymore. I lost it. ) and going to the pub. I've spent millions on booze. I wouldn't dare now because I couldn't get from the pub home without having a piddle in someone's garden. I burn my energy by never stopping. I’m always doing something. I remember seeing my dad pick up the dustbin full of leaves that he just swept up and then tipping them back out on the path again!

What's your most memorable experience? 

I was born during the war. We used to live right on the sea front at Selsey Bill. One night there was a huge gale. I remember getting out of bed and walking through the lounge, looking out across the garden - it wasn't there anymore. The spray was coming over the house. The car, the garage and half the garden had gone. After that we moved further in land. We used to have an iron table in the kitchen and I remember when the  ‘Messerschmitts’ came over during the war, mother would throw us under it. 

My diet for the first 10 years of my life was dried egg, dried milk and porridge. We had ration books until 1952. I’d get a penny Gobstopper once a week. Twice a week the ice man used to come. He’d walk up the drive with a great big block of ice. The bread was delivered by horse and cart. So was the milk. They were tough times. This is what makes me angry now. The young kids who’ve got so much and they can't stand being locked down.

I think my most memorable experince was when my father took me, my brother and our Labrador - William out on his little rowing dinghy. He rowed for two miles then threw us over. He said - ‘now you learn to swim’. He turned his dinghy round and rowed back. My brother was 4, I was 8 and my older brother 10. We had to doggy paddle behind him because we couldn't swim - we could in the end! Were you frightened to death? No I loved it. I’ve told people the story years later. At first they didn't believe me. We spent nine out of twelve months on the beach, all day long. He obviously thought in his own inimitable way, that this was the way to keep the kids alive - throw them in. If you don’t swim, you’re as good as dead.

What do you think about life? 

I would say life is hell on earth. Presumably as everyone loves to think, that when we die we go somewhere where it is all ambrosia. I don’t think it is. I don't believe in a hell and I don't believe in heaven. We're here to suffer. Some more than others. Of course you can't just have suffering for 80 years, you have to have bad times to enjoy wonderful times. Likewise you have to have bad food to know what good food is and so on. It can't possibly be fabulous all the way through. Life is precarious. It’s a miracle that we are here. We don’t enjoy ourselves do we? Always moaning about the weather, never content! 

What do you think about death?

I've never given it any thought but I will think about it now! I thought I wouldn’t live beyond 52. I used to think that was old but of course when you arrived there, it's no age. I don't feel old. I think every day is a bonus. I said to my partner, you have my full permission to slit my throat if I start dribbling.

What brings you down? 

I have mild depression. On the one hand I'm very jovial but when I'm down, I'm down. Sometimes I think - Oh, Christ, is this worth it? I think I'll jump out the window or something like that. It doesn't last long. I’ve had some wonderful times. I've had some horrible times. I think it’s how I feel at the time. 

I've been selling since I was 18. You’re judged on your next sale. It’s a roller coaster the whole time. I've never felt secure because of my job. I never know where the next sale is coming from. I shouldn't be working at 77. If I stop I’ll be dead. My father died three months after he retired. My job is my life and my hobby. I’ve played rugby, cricket, weightlifting I tinker in the garden. I am interested in lots of things. I don't particularly like television - there’s not much on that interests me. 

What would you like to leave for next generation? 

I like honesty. I like to see beautiful things. I see a lot of beauty in your garden (thank you). One time I remember going to the Dolomites for work. My boss left me in the town square with a bottle of wine whilst he went to a meeting. He said he’d only be an hour - he was gone 8. The scenery literally brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't describe it to anybody. I was glued. I went 360 degrees around the table, following the sun looking at the Dolomites. I was mesmerised watching the mountain turn from white, to blue, then pink. It’s quite a famous site. It was a wonderful memory, a souvenir. 

Take what you need in life, nothing more. Leave something for someone else. Think rather than just do. Respect. If you’re going to kill an animal - eat the bloody lot. The tail to the horn, otherwise it's too easy.

How do you best express yourself? 

I love shoes. I have 80 pairs. I’ve got shoes that are 35 years old. I'd buy a pair and admired them so much I wouldn't wear them for a year or two. My job was to stand in front of people and make them understand what I was talking about. Clothes can help you do that. If you go to see someone dressed as a slob, you’ll be a sob. If you dress nicely, it shows respect. I would say I express myself through what I wear. They used to call me - ‘Dave the hat’.  I have 40 hats. It’s the one thing I can carry off.

What do you think about doing this? 

I think everybody has something in the closet. I've just given you a very broad canvas of what I've done and what I think.