Sheila & Alan - Sarah 1973
parents/daughter
A quiet house is not the same as a silent life. In this episode, I sit down with Sarah, who invites me into a world where her deaf father dances by feeling the vibrations through the floor, her car‑loving mum measures affection in late‑night lifts, and a Welsh childhood filled with open doors and louder music becomes the blueprint for building chosen family on the Isle of Wight. It's a warm, funny, and surprisingly fierce journey about identity, community, and the kind of courage that grows when you put your hands to work.
As we talk, we travel from the valleys to the island, comparing cultures and expectations, and sitting with the hard truths of post‑mining Wales - what gets lost, what endures, and why mobility still matters. Cars become symbols of freedom, from minis to "Sheila's Wheels," and family reveals itself as a practice rather than a pedigree. Sarah shares how volunteering with Cats Protection helped restore her confidence, how a white lion's roar reset her nerves, and how the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary turned awe into action. Her fundraising stories come with real gusto: abseiling the Spinnaker Tower, shaving her head, and rallying a community to help rehome ex‑circus tigers.
There's local colour everywhere - village legends, chip shops named after dart scores, cakes that "fall off the back of a van," and even a Gavin & Stacey quiz night raising money for cats. Pop culture threads through her memories too: Teletext subtitles, the magic of the first VCR, and a lifelong obsession with Jaws that's grown into a dream of cage‑diving with great whites.
If you love human stories with grit, humour, and heart - plus cats, conservation, and a cracking Welsh accent - press play. Subscribe too, thank you.
Joe Calzaghe: The "Pride of Wales" famously fought in Las Vegas on April 19, 2008, defeating Bernard Hopkins at the Thomas & Mack Center to win The Ring light-heavyweight championship.
“Follow Longtime Ago People wherever you get your podcasts.”
Copy this RSS feed and paste it into your podcast app.
https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2503597.rss
Instagram: @longtimeagopeople
Blog: longtimeagopeople.com
Have a story echoing through time? I’m listening—300 words or fewer.
Memory is Fragile
"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."
