Something in Linoleum

As a boy in 1934 Paul Vaughan unwittingly became part of a social trend – a great mass migration to the outskirts of London – as his family moved from Brixton to booming New Malden, where their new semi was a mere stroll away from countryside. This was Suburbia, and its outlook was not entirely promising. But Vaughan was so fortunate as to find an inspirational headmaster – John Garrett – at his local grammar school, which boasted a school song composed by Garrett's friend W.H. Auden. In due course he would find his way to Oxford; but as this evocative account testifies, New Malden would never quite leave him.'Wonderfully readable, wonderfully wry.' Edward Blishen, TES'Recalled with a Betjemanesque affection and eye for detail.' Peter Parker, Telegraph