{"product_id":"9781839525933-those-flat-share-girls","title":"Those Flat Share Girls (Oh, How They Laughed)","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThose Flat Share Girls \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eis a collection of light verse, written in easy to read rhyming couplets, containing an old man’s recollections of his young life in London in the 1960s. It begins in January 1960, when he bids his school goodbye with the thought that:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI knew I’d never use again\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e            A logarithm or a sine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e            But the trappings of a cultured mind\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e            I knew exactly where to find.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd, not long after this, while strolling to a local coffee bar, he and a friend sense that:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e            \u003cem\u003eThere was a fire about to burn\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAnd of that flame we had both caught a spark.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThat warm summer’s evening in Grovelands Park.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd so, life moves forward through the years with the usual parties and musical delights of the superb jazz bands to be found performing in the back rooms of pubs for twopence ha’penny and the emerging electric bands who would sell black rhythm and blues back to the USA. Unfortunately, he misses most of this scene’s excitement because:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e            \u003cem\u003eFar from the fuss and ballyhoo\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e            I was on my way to Kathmandu\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn what became known as the Hippie Trail. Then onwards to a couple of years in Australia as a roustabout ‘swagman’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA few further adventures follow, an attempt to walk the Pennine Way amongst them; and there are several unconsummated romances along the way until he eventually finds himself ‘complete’ in the comforting arms of a loving wife.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd finally, back in a local park, an old man minding a friend’s dog. He sits observing the changed world of 2022, sixty odd years after he sensed \u003cem\u003ea fire about to burn\u003c\/em\u003e and ponders contentedly:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e            \u003cem\u003eThere really is no better place\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e            To see first-hand the changing face\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e            Of our noble, ancient ‘Island Race’\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e            Than in a local park on a Sunday morn …\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40745837363297,"sku":"9781839525933","price":13.08,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_29546267.jpg?v=1725549555","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781839525933-those-flat-share-girls","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}