A partially-sighted man has just written his first short story at the age of 91. Thomas Oliver, who taught himself to use a computer only a few years ago with some help from his daughter, took just a couple of months to write Changing Times. It is based around a letter found in an old book and is about a farming family in Sussex dating back about 200 years. Thomas, from Saltash, said: 'I didn't really base the story on anything in particular, I just sat at the computer and the idea came to me. It actually started out as two separate stories which were then put together.' Born in East London on June 11, 1915, Thomas was the youngest of six children and has seen quite a few changes over the years. His father was a tram driver who had started out with the company as a stable lad, mucking out the horses for the trams which were horse drawn in those days, while his mother stayed at home to look after the family. He has vivid memories of the first time his mother took them away on holiday to Pitsea, near the Essex coast, where she bought him a Norfolk jacket. 'There was a little village just outside Pitsea where a fish and chip van came once a week and, at that time, there were no gas or electric street lamps so a line of people used to trek across the fields with flares lighting the way to get their fish and chip supper.' During the Second World War, Thomas arrived in Saltash while bringing evacuee children to the area from London. It was here that he met his wife Emily, who worked as a nurse at St Barnabas Hospital. The very first time he saw her in Fore Street walking on the opposite side of the road and carrying a bunch of primroses, he remembers thinking: 'I'm going to marry that woman.' And so he did. They got married soon after the war ended and had four children. Emily's family had lived in Saltash for several generations with the men folk working mainly as fishermen. Her great-grandfather, Mr Thomas, and his wife used to own a shop at Tamarside where they sold the fish that were caught as well as home-made faggots and ice-cream that Mrs Thomas used to make. Mrs Thomas was also the first registered midwife in Saltash. Thomas said: 'There was back to back housing at Tamarside, years ago, where children played on the streets with no shoes on. 'The flats backed onto the water but they were eventually pulled down, probably due to damage during the war.' Working at an insurance office in Mutley Plain, Thomas clearly remembers having to catch the Saltash ferry across the Tamar as there was no road bridge then. 'There was many a time I had to run down through St Budeaux to catch the last ferry home,' he said. Their children attended St Stephen's School, which used to be situated on the site of the present-day Saltash College. Saltash town centre was very different, too, with the Co-op extending further down the street as well as having an upstairs, selling ladies and gents clothing and shoes. Thomas said: 'At the back of the Co-op there was a large bakery where the car park is now. All the shopkeepers were local Saltash people and everybody knew everybody here.' He particularly remembers a shop called Kellys that had a grocery van which went around doing home deliveries, and there was a coalman who used to go along with his horse and cart. Things have changed considerably for Thomas throughout his life especially with all the new technology around today. Now, as a member of the Saltash Blind and Partially Sighted Club, he is keen to sell copies of his story Changing Times, which is also available on tape, to help raise money for a talking machine for the group. The £2,000 machine enables blind people to read their mail by translating written documents into the spoken word, giving them the dignity of being able to read letters in the privacy of their own home. l Anyone wishing to buy a copy of the book can contact Mrs S Evans, organiser of the BAPS Club on (01752) 846166.