Are the clothes that you own family heirlooms now?

When I was a teacher, the children were allowed to wear the clothes for concerts and Christmas plays, and they were well respected. Now that I'm retired, I've done some research and it's interesting, learning the history of the people that wore these clothes. It makes you more aware of your roots and opens up a whole new part of my family history.

You have clothes that belonged to your great-great-grandmother, your great-grandmother, and this outfit, which was your grandmothers?

My grandmother's name was Margret. There were thirteen children, and she went to work as a housemaid in a mansion when she was a little girl where she wore these clothes. She would wear small cuffs around her arms and a hat on her head.

Did you grandmother's style change over the years?

By the end of her lifetime she dressed like a lady. I remember her in the morning, at her work around the house in an ordinary apron. But at mid day, she would get washed, do her hair and changed into clothes from New York, ready to welcome her friends to the house as a lady.

How did she manage to get clothes from New York?

Her sister moved there to become a nanny when she was young. At the time of the war, whilst everyone was using coupons to purchase clothes, she would send parcels over to my grandmother full of wonderful and elegant clothes.

You also own a dark green cloak that opens the door to anther member of your family, Rev. Richard Williams, who was a wool merchant don't you?

Was Richard Williams was travelling around the country buying wool and he would preach at the same time. I imagine him on the back of his horse with this cloak on his back. The style dates back to the mid nineteenth century, but they passed clothing from one generation to the next, so it's difficult to say how old it is. Reverend Richard Williams' ambition was to give a Peter Williams bible to each one of his children before he died. This is the bible his daughter Mary received, my great, great grandmother.

Do you have any clothes that belonged to your great, great grandmother?

I have Mary's bonnet, shirt, and her pantaloons! I also have a suckling shawl which allowed the baby to be close to the mother but leaving her hands free to spin or do housework. Mary's brother was a Methodist pastor. He wrote her a letter to sympathise when she lot a little baby, he wrote something along the lines of "I hope this earnest, grave incident under the blessing of heaven, brings you to reflect on your own ending" Isn't that awful! She answered his letter with rather tender verses about loosing a child. "My heart is heavy, my soul is saddened after the passing of my merry child" I think about her a lot, loosing a child happened quite often in those days.

Do you sew yourself?

I do sow, my other grandmother taught me how to sew when I was young. She went to Rochdale as an apprentice to become a seamstress. I also like to make lace. My mum also sewed. She used to make clothes for me and my sister from old coats during the war. Then after the war when all the blackout curtains came down, some of the mothers made skirts for us children out of the blackout materials so that we could wear them to compete at the Eisteddfod, they had a red, green and white stripe at the bottom. We travelled around Wales reciting, dancing and singing in these skirts!

Do you take pleasure in wearing something you've made yourself, like you wedding dress?

In the 1950's when I started working I would spend all of my wages on dresses to go dancing. But then unfortunately I met Tom who has two left feet! Never the less, we got married and I made my own wedding dress. I bought the material from Browns of Chester, and the pattern came from Vogue and I used an old iron sewing machine. I don't sew as much these days, I only repair jeans and recycle clothing. But in the 1980s, you could save a lot of money by sewing things yourself.

Do you think in the current economic climate, people are more willing to sew themselves?

There are classes everywhere now where you can learn how to sew; and that is a good thing. We have lost many skills to countries such as China and Taiwan; we need to rediscover these skills to support the economy. It's also important that we recycle clothing, its surprising what you can do with an old item of clothing.