What has been your involvement in Coal House?
The cottages had already been decided upon by the time I came on board so my brief was to turn the three derelict cottages into habitable dwellings in conjunction with Cadw's listed building policies. Cadw is the Welsh Assembly Governent's historic environment division.
Find out more about Cadw's involvment.
I've been a television production designer since 2001 on Casualty and a range of commercials and programmes, after having a six-year break to play professional rugby for Cardiff RFC and Wales.
The crucial difference between dressing the cottages for Coal House and dressing any other set for TV is that ultimately this is a living, working environment and not just a facade, as is usually the case. As such, when drawers are opened they contain objects. The TV audience may never see this level of detail but it will enhance the experience for the families involved. My buyer John Gooch helped me with dressing the cottages.
What research did you have to do?
I researched wherever I could on the internet but visits to St Fagan's Library and the Rhyd y Car cottages, and to the mining museums at Cefn Coed, Rhondda Heritage Park and Big Pit were invaluable. The Victorian Society and antique and second hand dealers were also very helpful. I picked as many people's brains as possible.
So, how did you go about dressing the houses?
The process of dressing the houses was influenced by budget, timescale and health and safety regulations, as well as the need to recreate an authentic period look.
As in any production health and safety is key, particularly where the public is involved. We had to make decisions to substitute some props to ensure the safety of the three families. The period cooking pans we found, for example, were in a damaged or rusty condition so we decided to go with modern 'look-alike' pans. Feather, horsehair or even straw filled mattresses do not comply with modern fire retardant regulations, so we couldn't use them. This is something the viewers have picked up on. I think that we've managed to create an authentic look on the whole.
From where did you source the props?
The props came from all over the place. We have used modern reproduction oil lamps which have been imported from Poland, for example.
Some of the miners' tools, such as the curling box and mandrills, are simply not available outside the most specialist collections so we had our own copies manufactured. Appropriately the template for the curling box is one that was found recently at Big Pit and was made up by Len the Big Pit blacksmith.
All the props have been chosen with our families in mind, starting with the basics - sleeping, cooking, washing and bathing. Every family has been equipped with what they need to survive the four weeks.
We have used well over 1500 props, ranging from Welsh dressers, hand carts and tin baths to wooden handled toothbrushes and cut throat razors. A small number of key props have been hired from specialist London prop houses. The vast majority however have been hunted out from second hand shops, auctions, antique dealers and internet sites over a six week period.
One of the most exciting discoveries has been traditional miners' safety lamps which are still manufactured locally in Aberdare. An old welsh plate rack came from a farm auction and a box of period bottles was found left outside one of the cottages by a local.
What about the animals?
The same care has been taken with the livestock as with the rest of the dressing. The two pigs are an authentic Welsh breed which were sourced from Devordan near Chepstow. They were hand reared to be more shaped like a 1920s pig, which weren't as lean as today's pig. I had to audition chickens too! The families will hopefully benefit from the eggs (and meat) of the reliable, point of lay, authentic-looking birds that I have selected for them.
The families will also have access to a vegetable garden. The vegetables were grown by and transported from Usk College. Barry, the tutor there, became so enthusiastic about the project that he has made period authentic onion strings and salt beans for our families.
