The twenties and thirties may have been before my time, but I have a wealth of photographs of my parents and their siblings to inspire me. My mother's older sister Annie-May is a growing inspiration, but had I ever told her that, she’d have chuckled dubiously and said something like: “Ahhh, now then…well…you see…” which would have dissolved into further chuckling. Annie-May Hughes at 17 on 27th September 1921 There was a charming tradition at the time of having a photographi

I often claim that London boozers are my natural habitat. Centuries of dramas, great and small, from just one pub can feed the...

When I read a book or watch a film set in the past, I want to be taken there. I want to live it - to feel the good and the bad of that...

The everyday experience of ordinary people in any era has little to do with the words and deeds of monarchs and politicians, and everything to do with work, transport, shops, food, sport and pubs. These things are so common that an appreciation of them only seems to grow as they change or fade and disappear. In recreating the past, I aim to recall these things and immerse the reader in the period, which means getting the details right, as far as I can. Take a simple bus ride.

Some of the many books I bought from Gay's The Word over the years. Growing up in a Saucy Postcard World The occasional sex scenes in my...

Rotary dial on a Bakelite telephone. An Uneasy Relationship During my childhood we had no telephone. I was led to believe that like taxis...

In the late 1980s, when I lived in Wood Green and worked at King’s Cross, the underground line I used most was the Piccadilly Line. Between Caledonian Road and King’s Cross, if you look out of the correct side of the train, a break in the cables that run through the tunnels heralds a fleeting glimpse of the deserted platforms of a disused station. This was York Road which was closed on 17th September 1932. It certainly caught my imagination and I desperately wished that I co

Those who have read Until the Real Thing Comes Along and When Summer is Gone sometimes ask about Charlie Brown’s pub, which is heavily...

It is fortunate for me, that the era I choose to write about is well-covered by some wonderful documentary films, as the genre was really...

To write about people in the 1920s and 1930s I attempt to immerse myself in the period as completely as I can. I listen to the music. I...

When young people buy gifts of music for older people they often assume that if it’s from their era, then they’ll like it. My brother...

My older brother Jos was writing books before I even started, having published several travel guides and articles. The real writer came...

A few readers have been kind enough to comment that the London I have tried to recreate in the first two novels seems real - in the case...

My second novel When Summer is Gone is published tomorrow, being the second part of The Likes of Us series covering the experiences of...

On social media, my eye is often drawn to old black and white images of familiar places, prompting a sense of nostalgia, often for a time...