“I was born at 41 Windsor Buildings in 1924. Windsor Buildings runs between North Street and Church Street, and the Buildings were a large block of flats near the North Street end. Number 41 was a one bedroomed flat on the top floor. There was one room where you lived and cooked; and a bedroom and a toilet. There was no bathroom, and you had to go to North Road Public Baths for a bath. … There was a big Gothic building that I think was the Central School. It was a shame that it was pulled down, because they only used the land as a car park. After Preece’s Buildings, there was a haberdashery shop, a chemist, and ‘The Film Star Shoe Shop’ where they had all the latest fashions. As children we would sit on the steps of the Regent Ballroom, and watch the celebrities go in with their lovely dresses and fur coats.”

Walk down Church Street on the left-hand side, passing the narrow entrance between Gardner Street and Regent Street to the former cul-de-sac of Preece’s Buildings opposite Dockerills.