had a long association with the
Cutty Sark. That goes as far back
as the 60s. And in the 90s we
made its main front topsail.
“That was done in the traditional
way, all hand-rolled and spliced.
I remember the first day I was
told I had to cycle down to Greenwich all those years ago.
“This was before they opened her
to the public. Below deck the site was incredible, I wish I’d got pics
of it. All the figureheads had top
hats on, placed there by workers.
It’s been an honour to work on her.
“I’ve done boat covers, mast coats, poop deck awning and skylight covers for Cutty Sark. There’s nothing more pleasing than seeing your work done and enjoyed by
other people.”

Although Mike was getting work
for many boats and barges on the Thames during that time, a fall in demand forced him to move into making tilts on lorry trailers, awnings and cash bags for banks, among other things.

“Some years ago a fella came in and, after talking to them, one
of the staff came to me and said
‘I didn’t know you were in prison!’.
He was right, but I was no inmate.
“I’d been asked to go into Pentonville and show the prisoners how to make mail bags. They liked what I did, so afterwards prison officers from all over the country would come and train with us, then go back to prison and teach the inmates. You could say I’ve taught a lot of prisoners to do it, indirectly.”

Mike served his apprenticeship
as a sailmaker in London’s Royal Docks in the 40s and he worked
on many of the great liners, ships and cruise vessels that called at the Port of London from that decade onwards.

The walls of his Dagenham office
are covered in a dizzying variety
of photos and messages from satisfied maritime customers.
Over there's a thank-you note
from the crew of Hollywood blockbusters Pan and In the
Heart of the Sea, over here’s a
photo of awning Mike made for
the late Princess Margaret’s
holiday home in the Caribbean
island of Mustique. But what's been Mike’s favourite job to work on and what's been the strangest?
“I absolutely loved working on sails for the Emir of Dubai’s dhow,

it was such a glorious vessel,
I think anyway. I’ve never actually
seen it and had to work from drawings.

“As for the strangest, it would have
to be the world's biggest bra which
my son Ian actually made.
“A PR firm called us back in 2011,
we had to break the world record,
to hang this gigantic red bra off the
ITV building. It was a promotional
stunt for breast cancer awareness, Wear it Pink day. We had a lot of
fun making it.”

The Guinness record still stands
to this day, at 30 metres wide.
Ian said: “It had to be an A even
though the people who commissioned
it wanted a C. If we'd done that it
would’ve needed twice as much sailcloth.” Although that was fun, and the Sailmakers team do a wide range
of jobs, there are some things
they wouldn’t do.

“We are perfectionists of course,
but we wouldn't touch parachutes
or try to make and fit anything
anywhere that could pose a danger
to our staff’, Ian said. “Safety is our watch word.”

Although Sailmakers’ main source
of income these days is not of the maritime variety, Mike still feels most proud of the work he's done for boats
on the Thames. He added: “I'll keep going for as long as I can and as long as my old body can take it”, he insisted. “I’ve still got a fair bit left in me.”