‘New bricks,’ said the man. ‘The whole wall was rebuilt after the bombing in the Second World War. The road took a bad hit: whole of the terrace over the road went; this side of the road stayed mainly intact, but the right wall and entrance of the pub took a knocking. When it was rebuilt, the chaps who did it decided to block up where the old entrance had been and put the door on the other side.’

‘So the door’s round the other side?’ I asked.

‘It is,’ said the man.

I walked round to the other side and went in and over to the bar, where a young barmaid with pink hair was standing behind the counter. ‘I’m here about the gathering next month, just to run through a few last details.’

‘I’ll get John,’ said the barmaid. ‘He’s just upstairs. Can I get you a drink while you wait?’

I ordered a beer and went to sit at a table in a corner while the barmaid went to find the events manager. As I waited, I noticed there was a selection of old black-and-white photos on the wall. I got up to take a closer look. They showed the pub and street before the bombing. A row of terrace houses on the right, the pub on the left side, looking pretty well the same on the outside as it did today, old red brick with some tiling. The only change that I could see was that the entrance back then had clearly been on the right-hand side. Funny I’d gone there automatically. I must have seen the old photos of the street on the pub’s website when I was searching for the wedding location and forgotten that I’d seen them. Must be that. All the same, there was something familiar about the place. I had a sense of déjà vu, though couldn’t for the life of me remember having been there before.

33

I was in Simon’s office for my third hypnosis session. I was looking forward to it this time and all the apprehension I’d felt in the first two appointments had gone.

We chatted for a while then Simon said, ‘Shall we get started and see where it takes you this time?’