Cupboard
This is a terrible blurry picture of the north west corner of our front room. I snapped it a few minutes ago. It is also one of the narrow alcoves next to our chimney breast. When we moved into this house thirty five years ago, the corner was little more than wasted space because we could not find a suitable piece of furniture to go there. Along came an old friend called Colin and he offered to make us a cupboard that would fit the space very nicely. Not only that but he would do the job at pretty much cost price. It was something like payback time because I had done him a big favour by looking after several thousand pounds for him. This followed a house sale when his relationship broke down and he lost his job. Colin came from Birmingham and he had left school at fifteen without qualifications. He was born eleven days before me in 1953 and when I first met him, he was a hospital porter here in Sheffield. He had followed his sweetheart here when she began her nurse tra...