My Dad was a bit of an enigma. Staunch Christian, ex Scoutmaster, strict disciplinarian, and administerer of The Cane, he was also a bit of a joker. A Scouser with a thick accent, he was an extrovert, who liked to spin a yarn or play a practical joke. He loved Tony Hancock ,The Goons, Morcambe and Wise. I think he introduced a lot of new initiatives to the Children's Home. We would go to the Ideal Homes Exhibition and he would come back with lots of ideas for creative projects, like the abstract art machine he made out of an old record player turntable, which you threw paint onto as it spun around and hey presto instant art.

He being Daddy, my daddy, I never doubted his integrity or any of his methods, and assumed he was popularwith the other kids, a belief slightly shaken when later they taunted, " Where's Richmond ?"  " Ee's DEAD!." The only time we spent together as a normal family was on their Wednesday afternoons off, when we might go to the Wimpy Bar or to the Pictures, or The Flicks, as he called it.I only remember him taking us to three movies. Planet of the Apes, Up Pompei, and One Million Years BC. The latter two, clearly his choice rather than ours, as my brother and I were about eight and ten, respectively. Up Pompei was quite unsuitable for us kids, as it was just Frankie Howerd making lots of lewd innuendos, and busty women in skimpy Togas romping across the screen. One Million Years BC was a similarly incongruous choice, however, I was very impressed with Raquel, who was super- foxy in her Stone-Age fur bikini.

Some time later, one of the lads acquired from somewhere, a fox-fur stole, complete with glassy eyed head, tail and paws. In a gesture of generosity, he gave it to me, and I knew exactly what to do with it. Working diligently, and with no adult assistance, I fashioned for myself a fabulous fox fur bikini, worthy even of the beauteous Raquel. There was just about enough fox to go around my skinny little eight year old body. I wore it proudly, roaming barefoot in the house, across the fields, and up in the tall trees that overlooked the Dental- Estimates Board, completely confident of my feral femininity . I was a total tomboy, but in this most glamorous of garments I was all woman.