In vivid and witty detail, this charming book describes everyday life in the town and surrounding fens seen through the eyes of a young girl. The story covers the aftermath of the First World War and the 1920s, and brings a long-gone era sharply back into focus.

Kathleen writes about the neighbours, children’s games, fights with her little sister, her soft-hearted father’s reluctant tellings-off, visits to The Pictures for tuppence, excursions to the local drains and rivers, trips “Down Below”, schooldays (complete with liberty bodices, serge frocks and pinafores for the girls), the thrills of Empire Day, Sunday School treats and the Fair, learning to swim in the gender-segregated Corporation baths and wobbling her way to cycling prowess.

She describes junior meetings of the Sons of Temperance, her time in the Girl Guides, digging and delving on her father’s allotment, the visiting anglers from Sheffield, Christmas rituals, and a stay with relations in Manchester when her father could find no work in Boston.

When she was 19, Kathleen moved to Stamford, where she met her husband. She is remembered with affection by generations of students to whom she taught shorthand and typing at evening classes. In her retirement she penned these beautifully-written memoirs, which will be read with nostalgic pleasure by her contemporaries – and with great interest by those who love local and social history.

Kathleen was a serious child who absorbed everything going on around her. She excelled at English and swimming. At 19 she left home to become secretary to an architect in Barn Hill, Stamford, opposite a solicitor's office. One of the young clerks there, Frederick Lord, became her husband. After qualifying to teach shorthand and typewriting, she trained several generations of students at evening classes. These memoirs were written when she retired in the 1970s. She still lives in south Lincolnshire.