My early years were spent in the mining village of Abercynon, attending Abercynon Infants School, and Abertaf Primary School.
I remember the cold winters and hot barmy summers, frequently interrupted by the usual wet weather that Wales is renowned for.
I was born, at a very early age, in Mountain Ash Hospital. Where I was one of several boys born to various mothers who had all decided to call their baby boys either Martyn, Martin or Mark, this resulted in my father being shown various different babies until with help from my mother he was eventually shown the correct baby, me.
There were many times, especially in my teenage years that my father asked my mother if she had in fact picked the right baby!
My father was a postman whilst my mother, who already had her hands full caring for myself and my two elder sisters, also had several jobs helping out various elderly and sick relatives by doing their cleaning and shopping.