Sophie Raworth

He was good fun as a dad.

He was firm, you know, kept us in line, but he was a good laugh.

And he was always working.

We wouldn't see him from dawn till dusk.

Ah, continuous.

That was his second home, the office.

Yeah, I mean, the most time I spent with Dad was doing surveys on houses.

Come with me, my sauce, we've got a full structural to do.

And so we'd head out, you know, I'd go around with a damp meter and we'd sit in the van and eat sandwiches and drink a flask and he'd write up his reports and

I mean, he was a one-man band, so it was never ever going to get massive, you know, and he was good to local people.

He had an empathy towards people in the area because it's a very low-wage place, so the bills weren't always sent out promptly.

He rang me and he said, there's no money, I don't know what to do, I can't pay the ladies.

I said, well...

It's got to be there somewhere.

But he said it isn't.

I can imagine him walking up the street.

He'd set off when he was a very fast walker.

He really struggled to keep up with him.

And I can imagine him heading up to HSBC or Midland Bank, as it was probably back then.

He found out there was £9,000 missing initially, and that was a lot of money.