In my family this chair is affectionately known as Dat's chair. Dat is an abbreviation of Datgu, one of the Welsh words for grandfather. Dat died just before my birth so I never got to meet him, but he lives on in our stories. He was born in 1880 in Ystalyfera, in the Swansea valley and the family moved to Gorseinon in 1886 in search of its tin plated gold streets. Even though his schooling was limited and his life spent in hard labour in the Grovesend tin works' rolling mill, he taught himself Greek and Hebrew. This chair was given to him by his brother, Davy, when he returned briefly from Gary Indiana after he'd migrated to America. Initially designed for the royal families of Europe, the reclining chair proved so popular that it was mass produced and ended up in 8 Loughor Common. It's where Dat sat after a gruelling shift, smoking a pipe in front of an open fire.
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