A boy's experience of wartime is vividly recalled in this recollection of a childhood spent in a Sunderland mining community. Living with his older married sister, he recounts the hardships facing a young boy growing up, suffering terrifying air-raids at night, a tough regime at school, difficult times at home and food rationing at the shops. During his adolescent years, his life becomes easier as he returns to his family home in Romford, Essex. His interest in science grows and when he leaves school he becomes a trainee chemist in the East End of London, combined with a college course, later going on to become a research chemist. Student life in 1950s Britain provides opportunities for new experiences, travel and love. Marriage follows, along with a new life in Wickford. The large garden he buys as part of his first home gives him the idea of becoming involved in horticulture. Eventually, landscape gardening and lecturing become his work as his life takes a different path once again after the recession of the 1980s. With heart-warming and amusing recollections from the past, this story of how circumstances change through a lifetime is an intriguing read.