“Come’t ar house and have a look at me pigs”

How well do you know your grandparents? I thought I knew my granddad pretty well until I started this project. In hindsight I only knew a very small portion of him. 

As children my cousins and I used to run around the farm playing in the buildings and running around with the sheep. My granddad used to scoop us up in the front of the tractor and take us around the farm, we used to scream and hold on to each other with big grins on our faces. My granddad was also the one who also kept us all in line. 

Growing up I started seeing things differently – my granddad got ill, his knees started playing up, he developed Cancer, his memory started to trouble him, he suffers from mental health issues. He became unable to do what he usually would with ease. 

This Documentary project started about my granddad’s life, illnesses and his farm – it transformed into an insight on who my granddad is. This project shows my granddads life from a young boy to an 81-year-old man, including his childhood memories and his time in the National Service.