People of Conwy: Gwyneth Roberts
People of Conwy: Gwyneth Roberts
Gwyneth Roberts’ tailor’s shop, an old converted boat house in Tal y Cafn, recently closed after nearly 120 years in business. The last generation of her family to run the shop, Gwyneth reminisces about working with her father before taking over the business after he died.
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Transcript:
It was a shed really for keeping boats, and he took it and adapted it in Tal y Cafn by Thomas Owen, Y Dderwen. He adapted it for him and that was in 1952. My father would travel around the farms meeting customers and measuring them and fitting them, and then work in the shed in the parking lot in the hotel at Tal y Cafn. It was like two small rooms and Dad was working in the back and cutting out in the back and sewing with machines and ironing and things in the back …
… I helped my dad when I was a little girl by putting thread through needles and making rows ready so that he had something as … so that the thread was ready for making tackings for when he was making clothes …
… When I lost dad I said ‘I’ll try 10 years on my own’ but I carried on for 30 years …
… There were a lot of questions and people couldn’t believe there were so many and that these were being made for them, you know. They wanted to know how many buttons they needed; three buttons or two buttons or one; did they want straight or crooked pockets, slits in the backs for vents, and did they need one or two or … plain? And how many buttons did they want on the sleeves and how many pockets they wanted on the inside …
… Oh I had a nice time there, yes … I miss it because I got to meet customers and they would come back year after year … oh we’ve known a lot and have met a lot, yes …