Wasn't Dad always the first to buy and try a new machine ? The ZX81 Sinclair Computer in the early 80's and numerous other computers along the way ....... tools for building things - boats, soldering irons for central heating systems - he insisted on buying a Black and Decker Work Mate bench in Vera Road only a few years ago - as though no household was complete without one . I remember him printing stationery in Queens Drive using individual metal letters and numbers placed in a block and rubbed with ink fore printing. Not defined by traditional gender roles - he also experimented with bread-making machines and sewing machines. He took a bread making machine to Jamaica and I think used it regularly and I would continually ask his help tailoring my cut pieces for a a complicated blouse or skirt dress making project. He did help but also choose to use the sewing machine for more utilitarian tasks - mending sails and sewing tents. You can imagine the uproar as needle after needle broke on the layers of stiff material.