Born in 1943, Richard Pottinger grew up in and around the small rural villages near Cirencester, Gloucestershire. His engaging childhood reminiscences reveal the charm of living a simple country life within a small and friendly community, but also the instability experienced by many families due to the transient nature of employment for farm workers at that time. It meant a childhood spent moving from place to place with friendships gained and lost and a precarious existence which impacted upon the whole family. Each time his father uttered the words We're shiftin Richard, his mother and three brothers would all have to up sticks and move at short notice to where there was work with a tied cottage or accommodation – good or bad, they didn't know until they arrived!