The modern reader may smile at the above differentiation in distances, but in those days, when the family car was unknown, being possessed only by the wealthy, there was an immense psychological difference between being within walking distance, and living several miles away, which required a journey by public transport. The vast majority of people lived close to their relatives and close to where they worked - certainly it  would  be  unusual  to travel as much as five miles to work.  Similarly,  to travel to the beach at New Brighton on the Wirral - probably only eight miles away, involved a bus journey to the Pier Head and a ferry ride across the Mersey. It was a day's outing ! Another destination might be Southport, some eighteen miles away. That too involved a bus journey to the City Centre, where one caught a train at Exchange station and then another bus journey in Southport. As to travelling to a foreign country such as Italy, where Uncle Tom lived, that involved using buses and trains across Liverpool and London, followed by a Channel ferry-crossing, and an overnight train journey to Genoa. It took thirty six hours. Flying was only for the wealthy until the 1960's.

The Wavertree Garden Suburb was a brave new experiment in civilised urban living.  It sought to escape from the cramped conditions and uniform straight lines of houses which characterised earlier towns. The houses were of many different designs and were built around squares with gardens at their centre - as in Field Way - or roads which curved and whose houses suddenly changed the direction of the building line to introduce variety in their layout and outlook - as in Wavertree Nook Road. Every house had a garden - some of them quite big - and the roads were lined with trees of many varieties - rowan being a favourite. It had social facilities, such as the original farmhouse which became the Garden Suburb Institute where plays, whist drives, dances and other events could be held. I well remember carrying an ashtray stand from home to the Institute for use as a prop in a play written by Dad. Between Nook Rise and Thingwall Road, was a large tennis club with a dozen courts and a bowling green. There was a largemunicipal playing field at the end of Northway, with swings and open ground to play games. There were also the Logos Playing Fields in Thingwall Road.

"Pops" Evans was a Master Saddler with a Business in Crown Street, some two miles from central Liverpool. He had brought up his family in classical Victorian style, imposing a strict regime of duty and hard work on both his wife and children, who were expected to speak when spoken to and not before. After visiting his daughter Kitty - my mother - in her new home on the garden suburb, he was so impressed with the style of living offered by the Garden Suburb, that he suddenly adopted a totally new life style. He sold the Business, bought a house in Nook Rise, and joined every Society and activity going on, and insisted that his wife - hitherto confined to the home - did so too. The new style of living made such a deep impression that he became a totally different man.