The Bird in the Chimney

Moira Goldie writes about her earliest memories growing up as part of a large family of aunts, uncles and cousins in Dumbarton, near Glasgow in Scotland. At the age of nearly five, Moira, her brother Gilbert and her parents set sail for New Zealand to start a new life far from family and friends.

She tells of her 1950s childhood growing up in Woodlands Park, Titirangi, in West Auckland where -- with no television and no transport -- children really did make their own fun, experiencing a freedom and independence quite unknown for today's children.