My brother Richard, who was a student at the University of Kent at Canterbury, had married Mary, the daughter of a local property developer, and had moved into a smart flat outside the city. Mary ran a small boutique selling ladies' fashion so, as soon as we arrived back, she took Gill in hand and kitted her out with some trendy clothes.
Richard and Mary's daughter, Samantha, was born before we arrived back, and Gill's sister Pauline had had two sons, Dickon and Simon, so we returned to a much expanded family.
My parents had sold Gawthorpe, the large house on the outskirts of Hastings, and had moved in to a small flat in the old town, in All Saint's Street. It was dark and only had a tiny garden, and anyone who stayed a night had to sleep in an area curtained off from the living room. The only advantage of the flat was that it was within staggering distance of a lovely little pub, the Cinque Ports, run by a husband and wife couple who were very good to my father. My father met friends there every weekday lunchtime for a drink.... or two.
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