These days it seems like everyone’s twittering about Twitter, and in this new weekly column we delve behind the stories of some of our favourite Shropshire tweeters to find out more about them.

Bridgnorth-based Michael Dixon is a very busy man – as well as lecturing in illustration and promoting the work of creative arts and media students at the University of Wolverhampton, Michael, who twitters from @MikeD16, has become one of the country’s leading consultants in a rather unique subject: puppets.

As a huge fan of Jim Henson’s creations on ‘The Muppets’ during his childhood years, Michael was invited to interview his hero on the BBC’s Breakfast Time in 1986, aged seven, alongside presenters Frank Bough and Selina Scott.

“I was always more interested in how the characters were made and what was going on behind the scenes, so meeting Jim Henson was a tremendous experience” says Michael.

“We kept in touch after the show up until he died in 1990, when I carried on contact with his kids who had taken over the company.”

Michael got another once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when he secured a work experience placement in London that made him the envy of classmates.

“I worked at Shepperton Studios on the film set of ‘The Muppets Treasure Island’ – it was fantastic!”

By then, however, Michael had already spent a week on the set of ‘A Muppets Christmas Carol’ with Michael Caine, and his fascination with The Muppets had evolved to include puppets and marionettes.

Now 31, he’s the proud owner of a large collection of muppet memorabilia and is one of the leading authorities on the subject.

For the past ten years, he’s been an archivist for the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild, a role that sees him in charge of almost 3,000 ancient and modern puppets for both the Guild and the Puppet Centre in London.

Michael owns many of these himself, having privately collected his favourite figures over the years including Rizzo the Rat from The Muppets and the caricatures of The Queen and Margaret Thatcher from the spoof TV series Spitting Image.

“They’re probably the youngest puppets I own and they’re quite fragile because during the 1980s, puppets were made of latex, whereas Victorian puppets last a lot longer.”

Michael often takes parts of the collection to exhibitions around the country and shows them at schools, theatres and fetes, as well as performing his marionettes.

He’s also spent time in New York doing research in Jim Henson’s archives, and is about to start work on a national puppetry archive which will detail all the puppetry collectables around Britain in one database.

“I get asked questions and advice from people all over the world,” says Michael. “People now consider us to be the leading archive in the country for puppets.”

Michael brought his passion closer to home when he and a fellow artist designed the Coalport Childrens’ Gallery, an interactive space within Coalport China Museum which was re-opened by Prince Charles following heavy flooding.

He’s equally passionate about promoting the creative endeavors of his students and, for the next two months, will be exhibiting their sculptures and artworks in Wolverhampton’s Mander Centre.

“It does keep me very busy but I really enjoy it,” says Michael. “As an illustrator, I find Twitter is full of useful, innovative stuff, and it’s a good way of meeting like-minded professionals.”

By Lara Page