RIP - Stephen D Bryan (DHB, 66-70)

Stephen first saw the light of day in Swansea, a place from which he did not travel very far for long, joining his brother Peter and sister Christine in a small house in Llansamlet, by the side of the railway, followed by a move to Pen-y-Wern, Neath.

His early years, from baby to inquisitive youngster (‘Why’ was always on his lips) were spent on the hill surrounded by fields and woods and children, mostly boys around his age.  Though some of them were Welsh speaking, he didn’t get much chance to acquire the language as the family were on the move again when he was 4.  This time it was to the Cheshire side of Warrington, his father’s home town, where he was able to enjoy a wider family with Grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins.  The house faced the Manchester Ship Canal, where big cargo ships from all over the world passed on their way to Manchester port.  All three children picked up a good grasp of geography from the ships’ destinations and their flags, poring over encyclopaedia and world maps.  He started school in the local C of E primary next to the church opposite the nearby swing bridge, which regulated the ships’ traffic through the Canal, but soon left for a year in Ghana where his mother and he joined his father in his latest posting as engineer in charge of building a harbour near the capital, Accra.  Here he had a glorious year, no school, playing with the local children, rooting out poisonous snakes, often off to the beach, being fascinated by the local flowers and trees, returning to a damp and soggy England and his school in time for Christmas.  Four years later the family were off again, to South Wales, near Pontardawe.  There was only one young boy nearby and they became good friends, getting into many scraps and difficulties in the surrounding fields and woods.  Passing his 11+ he attended Pontardawe Grammar School, and started building a huge, raised Scalextric track, having weeks of fun till his brother returned from school and wanted his bedroom back for his own pursuit, painting.  Steve, as he’d become, didn’t stay in the grammar school for long, gaining a scholarship for Christ College, Brecon, where he met his lifelong friend, John Gordon, who emigrated to Canada some years later, becoming a successful, award winning photographer.  His parents divorce affected him badly and he did not enjoy boarding school, though his results were always good.  He left as soon as he could, and returned to his mother and stepfather’s home in Swansea to take his ‘A’ levels.  He and his step-brother, Ted got on very well, sharing as they did the house’s ‘penthouse’, as well as dismantling and rebuilding an old Mimi their sister’s boyfriend gave them and working together in the Wonder Loaf bakery, both day and night shifts, with the extra bonus of taking 2 loaves each home, until Mother told them no more, there was no further storage in the house!! Steve also achieved a promotion to Charge Hand: a pay rise.

As Ted recalls Steve was ready to have a go at anything, being both adventurous and ambitious, and always looking for an idea that could take him forward, so long as there was money at the end!

This was also the start of his work experiences. His sister remembers him working at Struel’s Warehouse, selling carpets and thoroughly enjoying the sales.  But he also enjoyed being outside, hitching around the country and sleeping in big bins, before getting a job minding a small herd of cows an old farm above Ammanford, attractive because of its free rent, as well as working in one of the old drift mines in the hills above Resolven.

He obtained a job selling Welsh Agricultural crafts during the Agricultural show season, and by the end of it he’d teamed up with Stuart, the other worker, and raised money from the bank to buy the business. But he didn’t stay long. The next season he sold his half to Stuart, gave up his lovely flat in a big old mansion with its wonderful grounds near Llandybie, and set off on his next journey, to Pontypridd Polytechnic to study Maths and Statistics.

On getting his degree he had an invite to Cambridge, but by then he’d already written some quite successful software and he found himself a job with Broadway, a Training Company in Swansea. Here he met Phil Gittoes, recently returned from working in Hong Kong, and together they set up a small company called Microcompass.  It was destined to grow, from one room, with borrowed furniture in Walter Road, expanding in a short time to the whole of that building, as the company grew with Steve and his team producing software and Phil and his team out selling. Sometime later they had a purpose built establishment erected in Normandy Road.  Their success in the commercial sector grew and it wasn’t long before there was a whole new wing built, as the company attracted new young technocrats and sales people.  But the recession in the business sector of the early 90’s was quite hard going so the company focus turned to the public sector, where several areas such as Student Records, Housing and Finance proved vary successful.  The company was now a multinational enterprise stretching from the UK as far as India and Australia.  There was a lot of the world travelled by those involved. 

As is usual with success, it attracts a lot of notice, and so it was with Microcompass.  The company was sold eventually to a European firm with UK headquarters in Bristol.  Steve and Phil retired: the end of an era.

Steve was then able to concentrate on his garden, building his fishpond lined with Moroccan tiles, and inviting Ivor Stokes, a renowned plantsman and formally Head of Swansea Parks, but then Head of Welsh Botanic Gardens.  It was to prove an excellent match.  In a fairly small Swansea town garden a wonderful range of trees and plants were ordered, put in, flourished, and even now give much pleasure.  Sadly, Steve didn’t stay very long, moving into a Medieval listed building in Carmarthenshire with lots of fields (a farm in other words), a stream running through the grounds, and the Mid Wales Train line running along the bottom of the garden.  It was perfect for building a bridge, a walled vegetable and fruit garden, small orchard, wonderful plants and many trees.  He and Ivor had great fun planning and developing his vision.

He did have time for home life and relaxation, developing a strong, and long-term relationship with Julie, whom he met when he was still a young man, viewing her daughter, Hayley, as his step-daughter, but eventually their ways parted.  He eventually met and married Mo, moving to the house his architect brother had designed for him, near Carreg Cennan.  They had a beautiful little boy, Tyce, with a beatific smile who gave Steve’s mother and stepfather much joy.  Sadly, the relationship didn’t work out and they split up.  Although he had several other relationships, none of them were sustained, until he met Katouch who eventually moved in with him.  He was a happier man with another cook in the kitchen and an enthusiastic helper in the gardens.

And then there was rugby! A lifetime following Wales when he could, supporting Glynneath Rugby Club through his friendship with John Pearce, who’d set up a haulage company as mining came to an end: both local and national rugby were sure to get him excited.

He also managed to travel, with work, on family holidays, and particularly to France with his great friend, Walter, usually around the time of the grape harvests, the tour of les Vendanges, while his sister fondly remembers the Australian t-shirts he brought back for her.