Who's the bloke in the black?

Derek is the eldest child in a working-class family of five children, growing up in the aftermath of a world war, in the small village of Norton, a suburb of the town of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham. In this nostalgic sequel to the author's first book, Teesside Tales, Derek's family and acquaintances, as well as childhood adventures with friends, are captured in these short stories, whilst documenting historical, geographical and social change. As a child, Derek and his pals, Dennis and Micky, are sheltered from the adult world of work and life's day-to-day drudgery. In the 1950s, Stockton's a town in slow decline since the heady days of docks, mines and factory industries giving almost full employment. During Derek's childhood, the biggest employer in the area was the Billingham ICI chemical works which loomed over the town, creating air pollution which would later give Teessiders the unkind knick-name of Smoggies!