MY EARLIEST MEMORY IS BEING TOLD WHO MY FATHER WAS. Mum and I were watching children’s TV when the news came on presented by the 1970s newsreader Peter Woods. “That’s your father,” she said. Then she left the room to make tea. We never spoke about him again and I never met him. I never questioned it and I still don’t. There was a slight tinge of regret when I was working on my memoir, and I had to write the words, "We never met", but really I’m so glad we didn’t meet. It wouldn’t have been good for him or his family.
I WAS A SOLITARY CHILD—I spent hours in my childhood home in Bath listening to the radio that I was given for my 11th birthday. It opened up the world and gave me an insight into the news of the 1970s as I grew up during that decade: strikes and IRA bombs and the Cold War. I loved it. I wanted to be part of the world.
MY HAPPIEST MEMORIES ARE OF COACH TRIPS WHEN I WAS YOUNG. We would go on day trips from Bath, and Mum and I would escape from an unhappy home for a day by the sea or in London, or just travelling along. I wanted more than anything to be a coach driver.
I WENT TO A QUAKER BOARDING SCHOOL IN SOMERSET where we grew our hair and smoked cannabis and failed exams. I feel lucky to have escaped in the end and scraped into university. I travelled around Europe as a student and was almost killed in a coach accident in Yugoslavia. One poor chap was crushed to death when we came off the road. I carried on by train. In the photographs I look confident but I think the shock was profound.
Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Reader's Digest UK.
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Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Reader's Digest UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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