The Roads to Mangere

Sean was born in 1937 to a single mother. He was adopted and the story follows his life escaping from the slums of London to join the British Merchant Navy. These years were the golden age of shipping with hundreds of ships being built to replace those so tragically lost during the Second World War. Thousands of young men went to sea, for a variety of reasons; many in search of sunshine, others to escape the post-war poverty and many in search of adventure. Homosexuality was still a criminal offence in and was not decriminalised until 1967 in England and Wales, 1980 in Scotland and 1982 in Ireland. Many joined the merchant navy where they were accepted and contributed so much to the industry. Many British Merchant seamen never returned to their country of birth and settled in other countries. It was a time when a young man was able to follow his dreams. Martha began nursing in 1960 leaving an innocent childhood to be thrown into the turmoil of a time of amazing social change. The story is about two ordinary young people who totally unprepared face the challenges of this time. This generation were the trailblazers in an unprecedented social and sexual revolution but was sadly lacking in education and contraception. Many emerged scratched and bruised as they make their way through the sexual jungle but faced it with a resilience they had learned as post second world war children.