Thatch your lot as craftsman Ian calls it a day at 72
WALES has lost one of the last thatchers in the country as Ian Jones starts his retirement.
Ian, 72, from Coity, Bridgend, has had a long career as a thatcher, starting with his father as a young man and officially beginning his career at the age of 22.
“I started at a very young age because my father was working as one before me, so I just almost walked into it.
“I went to a couple of agricultural colleges, then worked on a couple of farms, then when I was 22 I decided to join father.”
Ian recalls fond memories of working alongside his father, who allowed Ian to learn on the job and make his own mistakes.
“Looking back, we never clashed, though we could have, he largely left me to learn through trial and error. He probably left me alone a bit too much, but it was great.”
Ian said, having always been a perfectionist with his work, he never minded the long hours and preferred finishing when the work was right or when he was forced to by loss of daylight.
“If something goes wrong, you don’t look at the clock,” he added.
On his first job, Ian explained how his father sent him around the back of the house to work, explaining: “No-one will see it back there anyway.”
He soon learned the ropes, however, and began working throughout Bridgend and South Wales with his father, until he eventually took over the business.
It hasn’t always been easy, however, and the decrease in thatched roofs coupled with companies hiring cheaper labour has had a significant impact on the way Ian has worked.
He explained: “It’s not that I didn’t want to train anyone, it works a bit different in thatching where trainees are encouraged to cross-pollinate, so get different experiences and options.
So, you start off training someone, then 12 months later as they become useful they move on elsewhere.
“Then, too, it means there’s an extra thatcher in your patch who can go off and set up another business and they know all your customers.”
Ian has noticed a local shift to hiring thatchers outside of Wales, which has impacted on the number of clients in the area.
“I used to do a lot of houses in Merthyr Mawr, but in recent years that has changed a bit. They’ve also amalgamated with the Dunraven estate, so there were a substantial amount of properties I didn’t have access to.
“Then there are big firms coming in from Somerset and Devon governing that work because their labourers are cheaper.
“I could have done the same, but there’s only a finite amount of properties, and I wouldn’t have survived, so I’ve stuck to my patch. It’s a lot harder than it used to be.”
Sticking to his own patch has allowed Ian to work on becoming self-sufficient. He said: “I planted my own hazel plantation so I can grow my own hazel and I make a point of stripping my own hazel, so if I want a nice straight length of hazel, well, I can do it myself.
“I’ve built quite a substantial growth of hazel now, three lines of 100 yards and another line of another 200 yards.”
Ian also had the pleasure of working on important Welsh landmarks, such as helping with the thatched roofs at St Fagans National Museum.
And just down the road, on the A48, Ian finished his last job before his retirement, on some thatched roofs at Cotrell Park. Now, having decided to hang up his thatching hat, Ian hopes to pursue some of his other interests.
“I’ve no specific retirement plans at the moment, but I’ve quite a few interests I’m looking forward to doing,” he said.
“I like music so there’s certainly a lot going on in that direction, and I’m also interested in horticulture as well. “I’ve got a polytunnel and a greenhouse, so I think I’ll join a couple of horticultural societies when I get the opportunity to do so.
“This wilding and growing wildflowers is all the rage now, so I’ve mowed out a patch for that and planted a bag of seeds, so I’ll see what will come up, but I’ll have to wait until spring for that now.”
It’s not that I didn’t want to train anyone, it works a bit different in thatching where trainees are encouraged to cross-pollinate Thatcher Ian Jones