Grandad believed in monarchy, empire and the class system, where he was proudly at the bottom of it. Tales from the Green And Pleasant Land

Mum was in her eighth month of pregnancy during the dog days of August in 1930. The weather was sultry, and our neighbourhood stank of people's sweat and under washed clothing.

Our threadbare squat on Chesum Street was unbearable from the heat of the sun and the burning rage that exploded out from my mother's mouth to my dad for the injustice of our pove…