These badges are worn by William on his jacket and with pride. They reflect the various places he has supported through volunteer work, as well as his union badge, where he became a shop steward in the docks.

Eve: What sort of books do you read?

William: Books on history, political history, oceanography, space travel. I love books on space travel. I read a lot about that. I do read science fiction sometimes but I like science facts. I like exploring the depths of the ocean through books. I like books about travelling to other planets. I've made many rockets. One had jetex Motors. You can't buy them. And I made one which flew up the garden and crashed into the fence on fire but it worked. I could turn my hand to most things

William has built a variety of model ships, planes and rockets throughout his life and he is currently engaged in building a large boat which is depicted half-finished in the picture. He also built a large model of the Ascension Church which stands now in a glass case in the Church itself. William talks about this in the historical map section of this site.

I used to take an old people's Club there (to the Ascension Church) before the luncheon club. At that time the church was falling down and Beryl and some others of us got together and said ‘if you sell the church and close it you're killing off part of a community because the banks are shut, the Post Offices are shut, you’re killing off a community’. And eventually the money was found to cut it down to 250 from 700 and they rented it out for weddings and funerals and all that. And they built a kitchen where they could cook meals and that's how they got going. I used to take 80 people there but a lot of them died off.
William Smith

After he lost his work in the Docks, William worked for over 25 years as a volunteer, mainly driving the elderly or mentally sick to a lunch in the Church. One treasured certificate here is his pre-entry certificate for Dock training, a pre-requisite for getting work here.

William has two large sheds with a vast number of tools of all kinds. These enable him to construct all manner of things as well as repair and redecorate his home. There is almost nothing practical that he cannot take his hand to.