WHEN Steve Bidgood left the Army in 1993 after more than 17 years in uniform he found it very difficult adapting to civilian life.

Even today after 22 years away from the military – more time than he actually spent as a soldier – he still hasn’t settled fully into a life in the community.

But now, thanks to moving with his wife and younger son to ex-service accommodation in the beautiful setting of Worcester’s Gheulevelt Park, playing golf and a new found hobby – wood carving – he is happier than he has been for a long time.

Steve, now aged 54, was in the Royal Artillery and served in the conflicts in Northern Ireland and the Falklands.

He had been a physical training instructor but his life in the military took a turn for the worse when he developed a back problem. “I got depressed and I also suffered from post traumatic stress,” he said.

During his career in the forces he moved 11 times in 17 years but, with a wife and young family, he decided to leave the Army and settle in one place – Hampshire.

But it didn’t solve Steve’s problems. “I cannot stand Civvy Street. It is still hard to adjust. You can take the man out of the Army but you cannot take the Army out of the man.”

He wife Yvonne added: “He was passionate about the military and it was something he always wanted to do.”

After a number of years the couple needed to move house and Yvonne started looking for housing that supported ex-servicemen. She eventually came across an organisation called Haig Housing which lets homes to ex-service personnel at affordable prices.

The couple applied and just as they were accepted as suitable to go on the list, Haig Housing said a property had become available but it was in Worcestershire.

Yvonne, who works for Worcestershire County Council, explained that they didn’t even know where Worcestershire was. “I had a full-time job in Hampshire. My friends and family were down there and we didn’t really want to move areas.”

She said the couple looked up the property on Google Earth and could not believe what they saw. The park looked so lovely and they thought it could not be true.

Steve came to see the house first and then came back with Yvonne. “It was in a beautiful location but the house was a real mess. I came on a cold, wet and really miserable day. It was a big step because we had been living in a four bedroom semi detached and this was a two bedroom end of terrace,” said Yvonne.

“We were told if we did not take it, Haig Housing did not know how long it would be before another one came up.”

The couple decided to accept the offer and moved to Worcester about seven years ago and their daughter and family moved to Worcester shortly afterwards.

“We love Worcester,” said Steve. “Living where we live is a real privilege. We have bands come to the park and play on a Sunday and we hear the kids playing in the park and it’s a very nice noise.”

But the move didn’t put an end to Steve’s post traumatic stress. “I still suffer from it. I go to sleep and I am back in those places and seeing people’s faces. The smell of pork cooking on a barbecue and low flying jets can set it off.

“When I am in fields, and there is a lot of countryside around Worcester, I think of it as a battlefield and where the military positions would be. When I am walking through the streets, I sometimes think of it like Northern Ireland and wonder if I am safe.”

But his new-found hobby of wood carving has helped him to start overcoming these stresses.

Yvonne said she has a friend who is very spiritual and interested in fairies. “She wanted a fairy house and her birthday was coming up so I asked Steve if he could carve a fairy house for her.”

Steve had started doing carving when he lived in Hampshire but was initially reluctant to turn his hand to a fairy house. However, once Yvonne had persuaded him to give it a go, he hasn’t looked back.

He has now made three fairy houses, three hobbit houses and a wishing well, and will be producing more in the next three weeks to display at the Worcester City Show in Gheulevelt Park on Sunday August 16.

The first fairy house carved from a solid piece of oak took 75 hours and it is not difficult to see why it takes such a long time – there is a huge amount of detail in each piece which requires painstaking attention. Tiny carved ladybirds, baskets of firewood with an axe, a wooden window balconies and mini gardening tools give each piece a magical quality.

Steve, who does 12 hour day and night shifts in the security industry, comes back home from work with lots of new ideas for his carvings and immediately heads for his shed where he puts his creative talents to work.

“It is very exciting. I get completely absorbed and I am learning all the time and it keeps my brain active. All the items I make are bespoke,” he said.

And while he is absorbed in his new found hobby, the stressful memories of his military life disappear as though they never happened.

“If I can’t sleep, I come down to the shed and I do some work on the carvings and it relaxes me.”

Steve admits the carving is enormously therapeutic but he also loves it and hopes to be able to take it from being a creative hobby into a business in the future.

To see more of Steve’s work go onto the facebook page for A Little Twist on Wood https://www.facebook.com/alittletwistonwood

He is also displaying his work at the Middle Earth Festival - a family-friendly festival celebrating the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien - at Sarehole Mill, Colebank Road, Hall Green, Birmingham on Saturday September 5 and Sunday September 6.