Lovely piece. Enjoyed that. You really should get my book about Ian, if you haven’t already, as there is so much about his childhood that people don’t know. And while his father was working class and originally worked as a bus driver, his mother and her family were upper middle class. Ian wasn’t born in Upminster or Romford or Billericay. He was born in Harrow in Middlesex, attended Royal Gramar School in High Wycombe – still one of the best schools in the country – and even spent time in your neck of the woods. As a child he lived briefly in Switzerland when his father was driving for a wealthy businessman. He always talked to reporters and writers about his dad, but his mum rarely got a mention, just as she doesn’t in the brilliant film starring Andy Serkis. My biography is Sex & Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Life of Ian Dury (Omnibus Press). I think you’d find it fascinating.

Richard