Pam: cowsheds, couture & catwalks

At the end of Brooklands runway is the village of Byfleet in Surrey. Pam was born during the Blitz into a hectic rural village background of dogs, cats and farm animals whilst surrounded by the business activities - and certain other activities - of her Grandmother, her rather natural and wild mother, and the Second World War. The reader is taken through the mayhem and adventure of her unusual upbringing in a series of stories - from war to peace, wealth to poverty and from toddler days to teenage years.Early chapters expose a childhood which, to twenty-first century readers looks deprived and indeed abusive although during the period in which the story is set it would not have been that unusual. She and her siblings are brought up by their mother and maternal grandmother, with family quarrels and secrets coming to light.Following a chaotic; sometimes funny, sometimes harsh upbringing and a much-interrupted education she works as a farmhand at fifteen; wanting more she goes to London where she finds 'couture' and 'catwalks'.