The Greyhound is still one of my most popular books though not my personal favourite. Its 1950s London setting was my own and the various local bomb sites were an adventure playground for children before the days of Health & Safety.
I lived a short walk from Selfridges and opposite my front door was the fire-bombed house of Lord Portman, where a scene from "The Yellow Balloon" was filmed, and whose gardens were a haven for homeless cats.
A few streets up, close to Marble Arch, was the bomb site featured in "The Greyhound", now a big hotel. How often did I play with friends there! It amuses me to walk past that hotel and remember the old cellars and the swathe of willow herb that decorated the whole site.
Jamie's school was my own for a time and the characters described there were true to life.
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