Weekender: Ron Fuller, 74, Toymaker

Interview by Becky Barnicoat

The Guardian, Saturday 14 May 2011

 I make old-fashioned toys: wooden aeroplanes, dolls' houses, rocking horses and folk toys such as the flipper dinger (a blow pipe game) and the whimmydiddle (a propeller on a stick). In the old days, there were lots of small shops selling handmade toys, but there are only a few left. I sell mine at Craftco in Southwold and at Kristin Baybars' toy shop in Gospel Oak.

When I'm not in the workshop, I'm playing with my toys. There's a model boating pond in Southwold. People bring three-masted schooners, clippers, yachts and racing boats. It's marvellous.

We always make an effort to go to the pub on the weekend. Our local in Laxfield, Suffolk, is the King's Head, an old-fashioned pub with no counter – you have to go to the cellar to order your beer. There's always a big gathering of artists there on Sunday lunchtime.

I like wearing bright colours. My trousers are from Gallyons countrywear shop in Norwich, and my beret is from the UN peacekeeping force. Being a toymaker is quite a romantic notion. I play with cars and trains and boats and planes all day – it's a substitute for real life. I don't want to look drab. I live in a world of make-believe.