A WILTSHIRE lad has written a book detailing his life growing up in the area.

Bob Hancock, who now lives in Neston, decided to share his story of fascinating upbringing because he wants to keep alive the legacy of his family history.

One of the most poignant stories in the book is how he met his wife Lauri when he was travelling on a ship to Australia in his efforts to make his fortune. 

Mr Hancock wrote: “I wondered at times if I should be doing this, getting to like someone in such a very special way; that wasn’t what I had come to Australia for. My goal was to see her as much as I could. But after dancing and enjoying Lauri’s company, I could tell the this feeling was more than just friendship.”

The book entitled, A Wiltshire Lad, dates from when Mr Hancock was born in 1941 to the present. With over 60 photographs highlighting his journey with personal memories of friends and family. 

He had the idea and his daughter not only encouraged him to write it but to get it published. 

He said: “I started writing it when I hurt my knee about 11 years ago. I had such an interesting life all the way through I thought I should write about it so its not really an autobiography more like a story of my life. I had help from a very dear friend to get it published. He said to call it A Wiltshire Lad because it’s all about what I’ve done.

“My daughter Tracy wrote it up by hand so we have the original manuscript. So it was around 300 pages but we condensed it down to 179 pages with photographs. 

Mr Hancock launched his book in October in Box Pavillion with friends and local people. 

“One of my achievements is owning my own farm, animals and crops so I did it for my Dad. I’ve had more enjoyment reading it back. It’s nice to share it with people and I’ve had letters back from some people which has been nice. These things will be forgotten about if they aren’t written. Things change so quickly so it is lovely to reminisce about it. People write about things 100 years ago but not 50 years ago so its important to do. 

The book is available from Box Post Office in Box , Stock Press and Corsham Book Shop.