Born and brought up in Caldicot, Philip speaks about his parents and his childhood; Triangle Cinema with its old bus seats and crisp boxes; potato picking on surrounding farms; childhood holidays with the family. Accepted for apprenticeship at Scotts Engineering Newport, Philip was allowed to leave school at fourteen to begin studies on a pre-apprenticeship course. During the period of his training, Philip was accepted into the Royal Engineers Territorial Army as Corporal and travelled to Germany for Nato exercise Operation Lionheart.
Having joined the Merchant Navy as 9th Engineer, Philip rose through to ranks to become Chief Engineer for Canadian Pacific. During this time, he continued his studies obtaining a board of Trade Cert Motor Engineering, an OU Technology degree and a Teaching qualification from Caerleon College. When he left the Merchant Navy, Philip took up teaching and eventually became Head of Technology at Chepstow School.
Philip talks also about the changes that Caldicot has seen; its transition from a village to town; decline of the High Street as being seen in many areas; the efforts that are being to regenerate the area, and to encourage business to move into the area by the creation of larger shops units.