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00.20 Francesco continues to reminisce about wartime Italy. The relations between the British soldiers and the villagers were good he says. After the war things carried on as usual; his mother had cows and sold milk around the village. Immigration in his family started in 1948 with his first brother. His second brother immigrated in 1950. Francesco tried to emigrate to Canada but couldn’t so his brother in law asked Francesco and his wife to come to Wales. He went to North Pembrokeshire for eight years then moved to Milford Haven. His mother joined him towards the end of her life.

07.06 Francesco brought a small wooden suitcase with him; a jacket, shirt, underwear and pair of shoes. He and his brother in law arrived in Milan, they took a train to Belgium where it stopped due to a strike in France 1953. He recalls being dropped off at a mine where there was a shed filled with hundreds of Italians all sleeping on top of one another. They left and got to Calais, half starved, where they got the boat. Two sisters in law were waiting for them in London at Paddington Station and they then got the train to Fishguard.

09.40 He remembers that the boat was small, there were lots of Italians travelling at that time. He met an Italian who spoke excellent English which he could never imagine speaking himself. His first impression was being so surprised by so many cows in the fields and the green fields in August 1953; in Italy everything was dry. He worked on farms for some time and explains the difference he found to agricultural work in Italy; here it was on a much larger scale. He worked on various farms and finally worked in a modern farm with modern living quarters.

14.49 After working on various farms and not receiving any pay rises, Francesco went to work for the Esso refinery in Milford Haven. He didn’t enjoy the work until he received his first pay check; he received 21 pounds, and thought they had made a mistake. They lived on seven pounds and saved more money in ten and a half months than in five years working on the farm. He was then able to pay off a loan they had acquired to but themselves a house. At the same time Francesco was cutting hair in his lunch hours. After some training with a friend in Italy, he got a job for a Barbers in Wales but quickly went on to start up his own business. He trained his family and in 1967 they opened a ladies hairdresser. His sons were sent to London to train, all of his four children are in the business.

29.50 When the Esso refinery closed they lost around 500 customers, so they then rented shop in Haverfordwest which they still have now. It is a family business- he paid his children well and needed their help when he started, he didn’t force them but encouraged them. Now they have grandchildren who are trained as hairdressers. There were some Italians in the area but they weren’t very supportive business wise.

35.01 Francesco went on to have a successful hairdressing business and employs many Welsh people in the area and is well respected. He recalls finding the language difficult to learn when he arrived, he found it very difficult to settle in but his wife settled easier than he did and helped him. However now, Francesco has a lot of Welsh friends and describes them as wonderful people. When he goes back he says ‘When I go back I’m a foreigner, when I’m here I’m Italian, what am I?’ His children feel a strong link with their Italian roots. However he says that the community isn’t big enough to keep it alive. However, he keeps the culture alive through family unity; even his grandson wants to start up a barber shop in Italy to keep the family business alive. He is very keen on keeping a link with Italy and wants to improve tourism in the area. ‘I want the village to survive not to die, not whilst I am alive’.