Map of the world, string, pins

I was in Japan earlier today. Yesterday morning I was at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and in New York by the afternoon. In the evening I went to Leicester Square - it was raining.

Of course I don’t really go, I hitch a ride with people via TikTok or Youtube on my phone. You have to follow people and see what time they are going to livestream. Cyclists do it a lot - they attach the camera to their bike and you can almost feel the wind in your hair.

I once went on a lovely tour around the pyramids in Egypt, but my favourite walk was in Chicago. I’ve visited it in real life, so I could recognise the landmarks. My worst experience was going hiking in the Andes. Never again! It was terrifying - a tiny, narrow pass with a huge drop on both sides. You’d need legs like billy goats.

Free range eggs

My son lives in the Pennines. On one side is the Peak District on the other is moorland. One day I phoned him and he told me he was going for a walk, so I asked if I could go with him. He turned the phone around and walked with it, so I could see what he saw. That’s how it started.

We talk to each other, too. Once he was going to buy eggs, but it was the beginning of bird flu and I told him they might not be safe because they were free range. Not long after that all hens had to be kept indoors to stop the spread.

It’s a joy to get out there in the wild and see places I couldn’t see any other way.

Rebecca’s words printed in gold

It was a Saturday morning in 2014, and I really didn’t feel very well. I started being sick and losing the use of my legs. By the time I got to hospital, I was in a coma. That was April and I didn’t come out again until November. It was a life-threatening stroke. I had a 0.09% chance of survival.

When something happens like a stroke, you have to adjust to your new reality. There’s no point fighting it. I can’t walk now and so I navigate my house by holding onto furniture. It left me with no balance but you have to just go with it.

I used to take responsibility for everyone before the stroke - I always put everyone else first. I was the one who would take the pain if there was any pain to be had, and it was often detrimental to me. Now I believe in choice. I am free to choose, and I am responsible for myself. This is my second chance at life.

Sticks, balls, playing cards, conkers

I think my parents were quite protective of me. I used to visit my Grandma in a care home. When she died I kept visiting another lady – then when she died, the staff asked if I could keep going, but my Mum said no. It was the same when I wanted to be a Venture Guide. I would’ve had to go into town, so my Dad said no. At the time though, the IRA was very active . When they blew up the telephone exchange, I was on a bus going round the island nearby.

But, I was allowed to play outside in the street - British Bulldog, French Cricket and Red Rover, Red Rover. I loved playing with conkers, you don’t see children do that anymore. And, we used to put playing cards through the back wheels of our bikes. I was never in. I was a tom-boy and I spent most of my time playing war up in the woods at Whitley Common.

Album cover, ‘If’ poem

When I was young I learnt a lot of things by watching my parents. Fathers like to teach their sons ‘man things’. My brother was never interested. You could see the disappointment in my Dad’s eyes, so I stood in my brothers shoes and became the boy.

Maybe that’s why my brother and I had a love / hate relationship. You can see him on the album cover of the Selecter’s ‘Too Much Pressure’ – he was a Roadie with the Specials. We’ve had Boy George and UB40 sleeping on our living room floor. He once lent money to Richard Branson.

If there’s anything my family taught me it’s that men do cry. My sons took after my brother in that they are both musicians, but when I raised my boys I didn’t stereotype them. I gave them both the poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling. It encourages you to be yourself.

Cat in dress and bonnet, cucumbers

When I was a child, two old ladies caught me pushing a pram around and asked to see my baby. The baby was however… my cat, dressed in a red polka dot dress, booties and a bonnet.

I now have two cats and a dog, as well as the birds in the garden. Animals cheer me up. I love watching Failing Cats on TikTok. They crouch down as if they are going to jump and then they fall down. There are lots of videos of cats jumping at cucumbers on the internet – but I’m not sure the cats are very impressed.

We used to know the Chippendales when I was little and I would sometimes walk the bears at the Coventry Zoo. I love animals, they either like you or they don’t. One thing they will never do is stand in judgement of you. Maybe that’s why I like them so much.

Shoes

I don’t like heights and I’m afraid of falling. I have issues with bridges. These are all idiosyncrasies I was given by my mother. I took on her anxieties when I was a child.

I remember once we were driving somewhere and she saw the Clifton suspension bridge in the distance. It must have been about ten miles away . I can’t remember where we were going, but wherever it was, we never got there because she turned around and went in the opposite direction!

I’ve always said my fears will never be passed on to my children. My son now takes me on walks in the Pennine Mountain Range, which are pretty high. I’ve even been in reptile shops with them, despite being absolutely terrified of snakes.

Cake stand, virtual cakes

I started raising money when I was a child. In school I sold raffle tickets for a stuffed dolphin my teacher made. I raised £700, which was a huge amount of money in those days. I could sell ice to an Inuit!

Before lockdown I was planning to do a cake sale to raise money for charity. When it wasn’t possible, I decided to sell virtual cakes instead. I got photos of cakes from the internet and people chose the ones they wanted to buy. In return for their donation I sent them the photos to enjoy. I raised about £240.

For a while, I also worked in a charity shop in town. It’s all about helping your fellow man. People often wait till something bad has happened to them or a loved one before they raise money for a charity. Why didn’t they want to do that beforehand? I can’t understand it.

Dad’s upholstery tools

My Dad supplemented his income doing upholstery and I would assist him. We did suites, chaise longues, you name it. Have you ever searched for change down the back of a sofa? When we stripped furniture down, I loved finding things inside. We found all sorts in the frames of the furniture we worked on. It was a real treasure trove.

I used to go out with my Dad to talk to customers, too. Some of the places we visited!

I remember a Mr Penfold’s house – he was an importer and exporter. Every room was different. In one of them he had a massive safe and right next to it was a beautiful rocking horse. I was eight or nine and I was picking stuff off shelves worth thousands of pounds. He said ‘A child without fear will not break anything.’ I’ve never forgotten that.

Pea soup bowl, pea soup recipe, lion head handle

My great uncle from Wales was the World Master Baker three times. My Aunty Joan worked in a Café on Gosford Street – I have a lion’s head handle from there. I remember going to the café through the side door and I loved her pea soup. It’s strange, I can’t bear to eat pea soup anymore. Later, Aunty Joan worked in the General Wolfe and the Pool Meadow café . Her friend owned Fishy Moores. The whole family (I had 12 cousins on one side) used to go down there for lunch on a Saturday.

I like people and I wanted structure. When I couldn’t get into the army because of a health issue, I decided to follow my family’s footsteps into the hospitality trade. Now I’m a qualified chef. There is absolutely nothing I don’t know about pastry. The rule is, for savoury pastry add an egg and for a sweet pastry add sugar and cream.