My parents, Lucy and Sidney, married in 1925 and lived in a small house
in Custom House, East London. From their marriage until 1937, they had
nine children, all girls, three of whom died in infancy. The family was
bombed out in 1941 and evacuated to Reading. In 1943, they found their
way to Brentwood in Essex where they all lived in a small rented house
in the nearby hamlet of Pilgrims Hatch. To everybody's surprise, my mum
gave birth to her tenth child in June in 1944, the only boy, and I was
christened Brian. The family was poor and none of the girls had received
much of an education during their time in Reading. My dad worked as a
painter and decorator but was often unemployed. My three youngest
sisters were all prototype 'Essex Girls' with all that now applies.
Despite having six sisters, my life was often akin to that of an only
child. However, I was fortunate to have lots of friends when growing up
and, despite the lack of money, I had a wonderfully free and
entertaining childhood. This book documents my memories of this
childhood as seen from the perspective of a 75-year-old.