Book Description
This is a story of the Seventies by one baby boomer, viewed through his particular life of travel, work, romance and recreation. Starting Out is not the sensational story of a celebrity, but rather a unique perspective by one witness of a decade that began the hope of flower power and love and ended in the winter of discontent and the advent of Thatcherism. It forms Volume Two of Trevor Cherrett's autobiography Post War Boy and traces his emigration to the 'cod and fog' of Newfoundland for his first job, travels to Mexico with his girlfriend from university to watch the 1970 World Cup, and their return to London after some fraught and accident-prone travels. It is a story of time, place, and politics, viewed through working in London, the new city of Milton Keynes and later the county of Derbyshire. It is also the story of an exploration of the waterways of England in 20ft wooden clinker boat named Morgan, "a suitable case for treatment" as sub-titled in the film of the era, starring Vanessa Redgrave and David Warner. Besides these adventures Starting Out is also about personal feelings and relationships, candidly explored in a decade that saw the end of many dreams of radical change or revolution, but which also experienced the birth and growth of women's liberation and feminism. The author traces the impacts that these movements had on his life and loves, and reflects on the joys and tragedies of the decade for himself and the wider world.
