The Congregation

Prologue

Prologue

In creating the characters you now find in this fictional mining town, my mind was drawn to my youth in 1970's England, when the fashion for flared trousers and wide collars abounded and disco music was coming to the fore. It was a time of change, when motor cars and television sets were becoming more affordable for the working class, and freedom of expression was encouraged in all walks of life. Homes were being bought instead of rented and a new craze for packaged food was beginning to grip the nation.

I decided to set the scene for this particular novel in 1975, a significant time for miners in Britain, as it was the year in which they received a 35% pay rise from the Government, to align their salaries with the average wage. Spirits were running high and there was a great sense of community across the land. Accidents in the mines were becoming fewer with new safety laws being introduced, and the threat of closure was not yet imminent.

It was a year of celebration as a young Margaret Thatcher, the daughter of a greengrocer, became the first female political party leader, showing women that with determination & fight, anything could be achieved. More women were seeking careers instead of staying at home, and a new generation of animal rights activists, anti-war campaigners and freedom of speech protestors was born. However, it also proved to be a year in which the country experienced great sadness too, with I.R.A. bombings taking many innocent lives and the country being in a temporary grip of fear, especially in and around our great cities. But nothing could deter the people of the nation in their celebration of Royal birthday's, Guy Fawkes night, Halloween, and every religious event too.

In conjuring up my characters, I took a trip down memory lane, flicking through old photographs to capture the fashions and hairstyles of the era, the places that we travelled to up and down the country and also the iconic sounds that made the 1970's such a carefree and evocative time to grow up in. I remember attending weddings and christenings where the female guests wore floppy hats and the men sported platform shoes.

Up and down the country people were taking pride in their new modern homes, painting their walls in bright colours, mowing their lawns and climbing ladders to wash their windows until they sparkled in the sun. Yes, we did indeed have sunshine in those days, despite poor old England's reputation for fog and rain. We had long summers, cool nights and winters where the snow fell so deep that our fathers were obliged to build us sleds to race down hills on. Those were the days I remember.