Alexander Seath was born in Cowdenbeath on 8th August 1908 and raised there by his parents Alexander W Seath and Agnes Howden nee Sked along with his two brothers John, Christopher Sked Seath and three sisters Jessie Amos Seath, Elizabeth Sked Seath and Mary Sked Seath.

He must have enjoyed the freedom of being able to play in the fields and woods around them from the tales he used to relate to me of his childhood. I was interested in collecting birds' eggs but he would say that as a youngster he preferred to see the birds in their natural habitat.

I remember my mum telling me about when she was young and had gone to a fair with her boyfriend and his mother. They saw a gypsy telling fortunes and went in. The gypsy told her that she would marry a dark haired young man called Alex and her boyfriend's mother said 'yes that's my son Alex' but the gypsy said 'no it's not that Alex' and it wasn't but where they met I do not know but I know she lived in Torryburn. They married and moved into Forthview Terrace, Newmills and I would assume that he worked in Valleyfield Coal Pit. Mum and Dad must have given a lot of thought to the future and decided that if and when they had children they would not want them to work in the pits as he did not like working there himself. The decision to move to England was made before 1936 as my sister was born in June that year in Derby. They moved to 54 Marjorie Road, Chadderston.

I was born on the 7th October 1939 just at the beginning of the war. Dad had a job at Derby Cables as a boilerman. The first real memories of my father was when I was about three years old and had gone with another child and got lost, eventually ending up at someone else's house but in the correct street. My father came and collected me. I remember going with my mother to Markeaton to give my father his lunch and we would have a sort of picnic next to the fence at Derby Cables. He would come through the fence to meet us.

I'm not sure how long we stayed in Chadderston but I remember Dad dismantling the shed, when I was around three or four years old. We packed up everything and moved to 10 Wordsworth Drive, Sinfin at the south side of Derby. This was a two bedroomed house which was okay as my sister and I shared a bedroom being both quite young. This is when I started going to nursery at Normanton. Dad cycled to work every day and he would pick me up from the nursery after work and put me on a seat on the crossbar of his bike and take us home. Each evening I would go outside with him to help in my small way to put the blackouts over the house windows. I have no memories of the war but after tea he would put on his Home guard's uniform and go out each night on fire and bomb watch. He was not required to join the army having a job which was essential to the war effort. I did not see him again until he picked me up from nursery the next day. I do remember he had a banjo and used to sit in his armchair near the coal range and play it. As I was growing up I loved to watch him making things in his shed. He made lot of toys from a fret saw magazine as the plans were readily available. I enjoyed looking at the pictures of the models. One of his tasks was to buy leather and repair our shoes on the last so we never had shoes with holes in them.. We had a large garden but the soil was not too good so was covered mainly by grass and weeds which I remember my mother cutting with hand shears!! The council came and moved the bomb shelter from the bottom of the garden, being no longer required now that the war was over. That area remained a mess but made a wonderful play area. Dad spent a lot of his spare time making things to sell such as dolls' houses with electric lights and shades which he painted with patterns and carved fireplaces and opening doors and windows. Trucks, tanks and cars too. He also made tea trays and painted pictures on them and made photo frames. He was very artistic and good with his hands. He made a fort for me, also a garage, ranch house and bunk house for my metal cowboys and Indians, tip truck and racing car. As I had lead horses and farm animals he made a small cart to attach to the horse. I reckon I must have had the best toys in the street. By this time I had started school.

There was an accident at Derby Cables during a maintenance period when it was necessary for dad and his workmate to go inside the boiler firebox to do some cleaning. During this time another worker accidentally opened the exhaust vents to the other boilers allowing hot gasses to flow into the other area dad was in. They both got out quickly but dad was sick for some time afterwards. That was the end of working for Derby Cables as he had been so ill. He got a job with Qualcast as a moulder. This was closer to where we lived. My sister and I used to walk up a footpath after school, by the allotments and the golf course which was about half a mile, to meet dad every afternoon coming from his work. Then we would all go home for tea. Mum would have soup ready for us and my dad had such an enormous bowl of it I used to marvel at its size. They both loved playing whist and would go to whist drives twice a week in the evenings. I had to go as well as I was too young to stay at home. Boring!! Sometimes dad would go straight from work without any tea which wasn't good as he was still not in the best of health.

He was a very good father and spent a lot of time with my sister and me. Our summer holidays were nearly always spent in Scotland which I loved as we would catch up with the rest of the family. We stayed in Sinfin until I was around eight years old as by then we needed a larger house as I wanted my own room. We came across a couple of folk who wanted a smaller home and after some talking we arranged a swap. This was 23 Arleston St. Normanton and nearer to dad's work.

In 1950 thereabouts we had a holiday in Skegness but that was to be the last as his health deteriorated to a point where he was no longer able to work. Mum got herself a job at Rolls Royce which was still near where we lived. Life carried on for a few months longer with dad getting progressively worse and I remember Mum calling an ambulance to take him to Derby Royal Infirmary where they operated and removed a cancer from his bowel. About a week after that they sent him to Matlock to recover and build his strength. We visited him every second day and watched him getting better and finally he returned home a new man. He was still unable to work at this stage and I was now eleven years old. It was time to leave primary and move to secondary school which was Peartree School. Dad never worked again and over the next few months his health went downhill again. Finally he lost all faith in the english doctors and decided he wanted to return to Scotland. Mum took him on the train to his sister Elizabeth who lived in Valleyfield and from there he went to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Mum returned to Derby to look after my sister and me and returned to work. Elizabeth would visit him weekly and keep us up to date with his treatment. Dad kept asking her when we were coming up to live in Scotland. Mum didn't want to lose her home in Derby as she hoped he might eventually come back there, but we had to make the move in the end as Dad had been sent back to his sister's as there was nothing more could be done for him. We settled in with them all in 28 Burns St. Valleyfield and started the slow process of house hunting. Dad was picked up by the ambulance twice a week to go to hospital. He was given about six weeks to live and he was adamant that I was not to work in the mines but as I was only twelve it was not particularly relevant. He finally passed away at home on 9th October 1952 just a couple of days after my thirteenth birthday and laid