'It is a wonderful gift to be able to knit'

Gary Ray Smith was first taught to knit aged five by his grandmother. Now the 61-year-old grandfather says over the decades "life got in the way" of doing something he really enjoyed.

The former railway worker picked up knitting needles again in 2015, when his first grandson Arthur was born.

"I knitted Arthur a baby blanket and that's how it all started," he said. "Then, during lockdown my daughter persuaded me to start an Instagram page and YouTube channel and that is when things really took off."

During the pandemic thousands of people started to watch videos of Ray Smith knit blankets and clothing and he soon became known as The Knitting Man. He now has tens of thousands of followers on Instagram.