Pensioner Leslie Rockey has proved you're never too old for new beginnings after turning his life-long hobby into a business.

He has been painstakingly drawing historical monuments and places of interest across Sussex since he went to school in the county 70 years ago.

Since he retired from working with young people, he has incorporated these drawings into a map of the region. Now he has decided to sell limited edition prints of his work through the internet on the Argus's innovative virtual shopping mall, Shoppers World.

While his work embraces the achievements of the past, Mr Rockey, 79, has left history and tradition behind to embrace the latest e-commerce technology. Mr Rockey's niece, Anne-Louise Tait, has set up Rockey Limited Editions at her home in Herstmonceux. She said: "The internet is a new world opening up which really helps small businesses like ours."

Mr Rockey, whose family still lives in Sussex, has spent months touring the county, visiting its places of interest and historic buildings to gain vital inspiration for his artwork. Combining calligraphy, traditional illumination techniques and his drawings, he has portrayed the history of the region in unique maps for the millennium.

Mr Rockey has not only drawn a map of Sussex but also cities like Bath, Canterbury, Chester, Aberdeen and Lancaster and the village of Herstmonceux. Among the places depicted on his Sussex map are Uppark, Cowdray Castle, Battle Abbey, Wakehurst Place, Arundel Castle and the Long Man of Wilmington.

Shopper's World can be found at ,www.shoppersworld.co.ukYou can also access the mall by going back to www.thisisbrighton.co.uks front page, and then clicking on business on the navigation bar to the left of the page. Happy shopping!

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.