Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll .. in Ealing!

Local writer Mike Abbott's new book now on sale

A new book about sex, drugs and rock n 'roll in the swinging sixties goes on sale at the Pitshanger's bookshop this week.

'I Got You Babe' is the debut work from writer, Mike Abbott, and follows the relationship of London couple, Mark and Linda, as it blossoms, stalls and withers.

Mike, 73, spent his first nine years living in Cavendish Avenue, north Ealing, and remembers his childhood well:

'' I was born in 1943 while my parents, Fred and Margaret Abbott, were living at 100 Cavendish Avenue.  We stayed living there until the summer of 1952 when we moved to Hayes where dad, a railwayman, got the family a house on the old Great Western railway estate.

''But living at Cavendish Avenue meant regular summer walks to Pitshanger Park and occasional rides on the 65 bus to Ealing Broadway which, in those days, began its journey to Kingston and Chessington Zoo from Pitshanger Park. Mum shopped on Pitshanger Lane, especially at a butcher’s I recall.”

With his brother Chris, Mike was baptised at St Stephen’s Church on The Avenue, both also attending Sunday school.

“I remember coming home on Mothering Sunday with a posy of flowers for mum.  And fondly recall the family doctor was the kindly lady GP, Dr King, with her surgery on The Avenue.”

“I have some wonderful memories of my late 1940s/early 50s Ealing childhood – the Walpole cinema, Drayton Green junior school, the bomb-damaged shops along the Uxbridge Road, circuses on Ealing Common, catching the 65 bus with dad to go and watch Brentford play at Griffin Park, and being taken to Christmas bazaars in the basement of Ealing Town Hall.”

Today, Mike’s links with Ealing remain strong.  He is a regular volunteer at Ealing Talking Newspapers, a service for people who are partially or fully-unsighted, volunteers each week reading news reports onto computer flash drives.

‘I Got You Babe’ is published by Pegasus at £8.99 – www.pegasuspublishers.com  and will be available from Pitshanger Bookshop – www.pitshangerbooks.co.uk

27th April 2016