His first collection of stories was published when he was only 23. Early tales reflect the contrast between life in the boot and shoe making town where he lived and the rural landscape and characters of his grandparents’ small-holding.
Many of his stories are drawn from his love of travel, to pre war Germany, and later to Switzerland and Tahiti. In his post war stories he observed the changing world around him, the complexities of maturing love, and the eccentricities of elderly ladies and animal lovers, of whom he was especially fond.