As the Ribble slapped King Edward Docks I unfolded just shy of Christmas. It was 1960. As a nipper I found myself immersed in a world of comic super heroes, Universal monsters and fantastic spaceships. My childhood was a garden of Action Men, Matt Mason and Dinky cars and like my two brothers and two sisters we loved it all. On my Sixteenth birthday my Mum died and I grew up. Act 2: finding myself in the fens, strumming a guitar in bands, marrying my Fraulein in '84, raising a daughter to be proud of always, sitting at too many office desks for other people and watching millions of films with friends. My nicknames have included Spex, Spunky, Woodsy, Beatnik, Gandalf and Inri. My first was Pele Legs. My daughter is the best of me and grabs life by the scruff. She calls me Pops. I'm now in my Fifties; greying, writing, waiting to volunteer for a Mars colony. I'm looking for the garden once again.