Harkness – MacGillivray Stories

In 1962, my family moved from the quiet village of Culcheth in Lancashire—home of sheep, pies, and Northern understatement—to the slightly less quiet town of Billericay in Essex—home of Ford Cortinas, cheeky banter, and soon, us.

Like many families of the post-war era, we were at the mercy of a firmly patriarchal order in which the father’s job determined absolutely everything, such as which end of the country you lived in. So, when Dad landed a new role in the South, we didn’t debate it. We packed up, waved goodbye to the North, and braced ourselves for the unknown South-East.