the raincoat man

When H and I were looking for a place to live after Chelsham Road we trawled around South London, the areas we knew best. In the end we were interviewed for a place by a stout landlord, and lived on South Lambeth Road for six months. Neither of us ever really got used to the noise of traffic. I believe The Focus Group took place whilst we were there: I have a memory of the cast coming round. We bought the orange futon. It wasn’t a perfect place but it got us used to the neighbourhood – Bar Estrella, Rebatos, Di Lieto’s, things that would be staples for years to come.

When we were looking for somewhere we saw some grim places, as you do when you’re on the lower tier of the rental ladder. There was one place round the back of Oval we went to see which looked like it was designed for hamsters not humans. I remember someone else turned up. He might have looked at the flat with us, I can’t recall. What I do recall was his demeanour. He seemed like someone whose whole world had imploded. Then he told us as much. He’d split up from his wife, had to move out of his house, and now he was reduced to trawling round after work trying to find a shoebox to live in. I may have felt sorry for him, I may have not, but I do remember feeling relieved when he went his separate way. Some people seem ill-starred, and he was one of them.