Around these parts

The area of Newport that I live is steeped in industrial history and heritage and my house happens to be built on the site of the old town dock, which if you're from Newport probably means something to you.

My grandfather and great-grandfather both held jobs on the docks, a place where you could leave one employment at 9.30am and be in another at 10, such was the amount of work available there at the time.

At one time Newport was one of the busiest ports in Europe thanks to the coal industry and other heavy industrial works of the area. All around the area I live are clues and relics of Newport's once illustrious and prosperous heritage both from an industrial and maritime perspective.

When I was thinking and planning Creu I wanted to make sure that Newport and indeed my South Walian heritage was prevalent through out. The Somerton Parka was inspired from an old foul weather jacket worn on the dock yards decades ago, the name Somerton Park is the former home of Newport County, who are my team.

The history and the past are all around this area and I think it's sometimes forgotten which is a great shame. Newport is usually only known for it's less glamorous reputation, but living in the shadows of Newport's most famous landmark, the transporter bridge, it still holds a working class romantic appeal to me, and as the sun sets over my home, I realise it always will.