Barry News
Barry writer tells tale of tough childhood
8:30am Tuesday 21st February 2012
A BARRY man has put pen to paper to record the ‘rags to riches’ tale of his childhood during the 1940s and 1950s.
David Wagner’s book Boy tells how, after his earliest years in Regent Street, he spent his childhood either homeless, in the workhouse, in a children’s home or in bed-and-breakfasts.
The book recounts the struggle he faced in ‘ration book Britain’, as he moved around with his mother in what became a daily struggle to survive.
And it features a host of colourful characters he met along the way, such as a one-eyed pig breeder, a sadistic matron and a one-legged sea cook.
"It was a traumatic childhood," said the 70-year-old.
"I was one of the last workhouse kids before they brought the Workhouse Act in.
"It was a place for people that had no means of support. The object was to give you board and breakfast in return for work, but once you were in the workhouse you couldn’t leave until you had a home to go to and a means of support.
"My mother was a concert pianist, but she ended up with raw hands after scrubbing the workhouse floors with carbonic soda."
David, who now lives in Penarth, hopes that Boy will shed light on the life of an ‘ordinary person’.
"My main motivation for writing the book was as a piece of social history," he said.
"A great many books are written about famous people, but not so many are written about the ordinary person on the street.
"I have included the games we played, the clothes we wore and the food we ate. And I remember Barry being a haven for street traders and entertainers - there used to be a one man band, a knife grinder and buskers."
And although the book chronicles his ‘traumatic’ childhood, he hopes the tale will inspire people.
"I think I have proved that you can rise from nothing to achieve a reasonable position in society if you work hard enough at it," he said.
"It’s not about being born in slums and having a tough upbringing – it’s what you make of yourself. I’m responsible for my failures and successes."
David has written 15 stage shows, eight pantomimes and one full length musical.
He has also had 45 jobs during his career, including as a director of a small theatre company, and as a member of the Territorial Army.
Now Secretary of Barry Arts Centre, he is planning to write more books.
"I’m working on my second book, Lad, which covers the next few years of my working life.
"If I live long enough there will be a third that will cover my years involved with theatre and business!"
He also hopes that Boy will educate a new generation of youngsters.
"Most children know very little about this sort of life, and this level of poverty and hardship," he added.
"I feel it should be put down in print so youngsters can learn from it."
David Wagner will be signing copies of Boy at AB Snell and Son, Stanwell Road, Penarth, on Saturday, February 25, from 11am to 1pm.