Men and sheds, he thought, as the realization crept over him that tomorrow he would have to choose the winner. He sat down on the bench under the weeping willow on the village green, put his weary head in his hands and contemplated an uncertain future.

‘What’s t’do, Vicar? Are y’frettin’?’ It was Gertie Robinson.

‘Oh hello, Mrs Robinson, I’m fine thank you.’

‘Y’look proper peaky t’me.’

‘It may be a slight migraine coming on,’ he said weakly.

Gertie stared down at the frail figure, who looked as though a stiff breeze would blow him away. She made a decision.

‘Mr Evans, come wi’ me. Ah’ll soon ’ave y’fettled.’ Gertie had arms like tree trunks and almost lifted him from the seat before frogmarching him down School View. ‘Y’need a quick pick-me-up an’ ah’ve got jus’ the thing.’

A few minutes later Joseph found himself at the bottom of the Robinsons’ back garden, sitting on an upturned box in the corner of an old wooden shed.

‘Now, Vicar, try a drop o’ this.’

Judgment Day arrived on Saturday morning when Joseph announced to the Ragley Shed Committee that the winner of the Best Shed competition for 1953 was Mrs Gertie Robinson. The men retired to their sheds in a state of bewilderment. Their shed world had been turned upside down.

‘But she’s a woman …’ said Archibald Pike in bewilderment.

‘Ah wouldn’t allow a woman in my shed,’ declared Maurice Tupham defiantly.

‘Whatever next?’ grumbled Alfie Kershaw. ‘A woman Prime Minister?’

Everyone laughed. ‘Not in my lifetime,’ muttered Aloysius Pratt.

That afternoon the committee held an emergency meeting. Billy Two-Sheds proposed that the vicar should stand down as the judge and that future competition entries should be restricted to members of the committee – comprised entirely of men.

The motion was carried unanimously.

Gertie’s Devil’s Brew, meanwhile, was suitably named. It was genuinely evil, with a kick like a mule and an aftertaste of red-hot coals with the merest hint of paint stripper.

After one glass there was a feeling of bonhomie. A second glass made you feel distinctly euphoric. After that you were simply floating in the clouds.

However, for Joseph it had been shed heaven.

Chapter Fifteen

The Second Sex

It was a slow dawn and as Lily looked out of her bedroom window the scent of wallflowers and cherry blossom made her feel this was a time of renewal. The flower spikes on the horse chestnut trees gave promise of summer and a preening sparrow stared up with beady eyes full of anticipation for the new day.

It was Wednesday, 20 May and sunlight caressed her skin like a lover’s kiss. The distant hills shimmered beneath a ring of fire and a thin band of gold lit up the horizon. Above her head only the cawing of the rooks in the high elms disturbed the peace of this perfect morning.