Trevor Baylis in his workshop

Trevor Baylis, 72, is the inventor of the clockwork radio. He grew up in Southall, Middlesex, south-east England, competed for Great Britain as a swimmer in his teens and went on to work as an underwater stunt man before ultimately becoming an inventor. He lives with his Labrador dog, Ike, on Eel Pie Island, Twickenham, south-west London, and has founded the Trevor Baylis Foundation to promote and support inventors.

What attracted you to your home and how long have you lived there?
I had a passion as a young man for jazz and the best club in west London was the Eel Pie Jazz Club on Eel Pie Island, Twickenham. I used to cycle over as a lad and got to see everyone from George Melly to Acker Bilk. I vowed to live at this idyllic spot, which looks out over Ham Common and is just minutes from Twickenham town centre, as soon as I could afford to make the move. By 1970 I had the money and bought a plot of land. I built the one-bedroom, two-storey house over the course of 12-18 months myself – I had the knowledge, the ability to do it and a good bricklayer friend – for £20,000, the best investment of my life. I’ve been here ever since and still have to pinch myself to believe I’ve got a house right on the Thames with my own mooring.

Is there anything unusual about the house?
At the time I built it the Thames Flood Barrier had yet to be constructed and the area was prone to flooding. So when I built an indoor swimming pool I used the soil I excavated to erect a raised area at the rear [which backs on to the Thames] to prevent the house ever being flooded. I also put all the power points halfway up the walls so that if the water did ever come in they wouldn’t go bang. The doors have flood boards. It’s also got an extensive ground-floor workshop.

MY FAVOURITE THINGS

A radio, a photo and the ego

The very first clockwork radio – the original wind-up model – I built in my workshop. Of course, millions have since been manufactured.

My This Is Your Life book. I was invited to appear on the show in 1997. It was a complete surprise. I had no idea it was happening until Michael Aspel showed up with his famous red book and took me off to the television studio, where I saw all the friends I hadn’t seen for years. I had tears in my eyes.

My OBE. I hired a Rolls-Royce and a top hat and tails to go up to Buckingham Palace for the day to collect it from Queen Elizabeth. It was the proudest day of my life.

A black and white photograph of my parents, Bill and Gladys. Both were a huge influence on me. My father died at 65 and my mother lived until she was 85 but, sadly, neither lived to see me get my OBE.

A bronze life-sized bust of my head and shoulders that was cast by a friend. It’s the first thing you see in my living room and always attracts comment.

My Ego Files, as I call them. Most people call them scrapbooks. If anyone says anything nice about me in a newspaper article it goes in my Ego Files.

What was your previous house like?
I rented a first-floor flat a stone’s throw away in Twickenham for a few years with a friend. By the time my friend married and moved out I’d saved enough money from my underwater escape act and stunt work to build the house of my dreams.

Have you always lived in London?
I’m a Londoner through and through. I remember my mum telling me as a boy: “Never go north of Watford, south of Guildford, west of Reading or east of Fortnum & Mason”: advice I took to heart.

Where else have you previously lived?
I shared a mansion block flat in nearby Richmond with some friends in the Swinging Sixties for a few years. Wild times, believe me! But I grew up in a flat in Southall which my parents rented. I remember the [second world] war years particularly vividly. Every night was firework night and us kids used to go to the bomb sites picking up shrapnel, which became a kind of currency. I remember telling one friend: “You give me two pieces of shrapnel and you can ride my bike.” Of course the area has changed a lot since my time and nowadays has a large Asian community, who were initially attracted by the opportunities at a local rubber factory.

Do any of your homes have a special place in your heart?
My Southall home, where I lived until starting my national service when I was 21. I spent hours buildings things with my Meccano set in the lounge. A lot of my family lived in the area and I’ll always remember going to the Saturday morning pictures and learning to use the lathe in Dad’s workshop at the bottom of the garden. I owe my engineering ability to my dad and my creativity to my mum, who liked painting.

And is there a particular room in your current house which is special to you?
The workshop plays such a big part in my life – even if it’s the graveyard of a thousand domestic appliances. It’s where I made my prototype clockwork radio, just one of many inventions I’ve come up with over the years. The workshop might not be much to look at – what workshop is? – but it’s got a lathe and all the tools you could possibly imagine, not to mention nuts, bolts and assorted bits and pieces. I never throw away anything I might use. I’m always tinkering with something.

Do you have a daily work routine?
Like most inventors, I suspect, I’ve never kept conventional nine to five office hours. Whatever the hour, if an idea strikes, I’ll head to my workshop – and that’s the beauty about having a workshop in your home. In truth, though, it’s easy coming up with the initial concept. It’s fine-tuning, developing and getting a product to the market which is in some ways the hardest part.

Do you go away much?
I travel all round the world, have been awarded honorary doctorates by a string of universities and have established enduring relationships with some of them, which involves me having to visit them and give the occasional lecture. I’m also in demand as a public speaker. So, yes, I’m always going away. Thankfully, the island is very community minded and I can rely on a neighbour to look after Ike.

Do you have a garden and do you spend much time in it?
A little garden at the back of the house, which looks out across the river to Ham Common, and a first-floor roof terrace which is very private and perfect for sunbathing in the nude.

Having made Eel Pie your home, could you imagine living anywhere else?
I’ve been there almost 40 years and could never live anywhere else. It’s got everything I need: the river, shops, friends, the towpath where I walk the dog and a nearby garage where I keep my E-type Jaguar. Plus I can shave every morning in the hot tub outside, right by the river. Where else could I do that?