Shelly smiled, this was brilliant, the four of them doing a job together. She’d never have dreamt of such a thing and it made her tingle with happiness. She watched her son swing the long-handled lump hammer. It crashed into the chimney breast at shoulder height. The whole house trembled but the chimneybreast stayed intact.

‘’Ere, yer needs to put yer back into it, lad.’

‘Built to last, Gramps.’

Shelly beamed. ‘Here, DJ, have a go at hitting my thumb.’ She placed it a little lower, centrally, above the fireplace. ‘Go on, go for it.’

He glanced at her nervously. ‘You will pull it out the way?’

She grinned and winked. ‘All you’ve got, lovey. Come on, now’s your chance to show us what you’re worth.’

‘Stand back! Stand back!’ Gordon ordered dramatically, suddenly in charge of the demolition and bubbling with fun. ‘Wimmin under the table. Make sure yer gas masks are on. The Blitz is back an Gerry’s goin’ for a direct hit!’

‘Now you’ve really lost the plot, Dad,’ Shelly said, laughing at the fun in her father.

DJ hefted the lump hammer back and swung it at Shelly’s thumb. She stepped away, he hit the spot and five rows of bricks clattered down in one great tumult.

‘Well done, lad,’ Gordon said, before puffing at his vape like a triumphant Popeye.

Shelly and Eve high-fived. Then they all, apart from Eve, shifted bricks into the barrow.

When the rubble was clear Eve cried, ‘Break time!’ and handed everyone a glass of white wine and a couple of sushi on a paper plate.

Gordon squinted suspiciously, first at the fish, then at his companions. When he thought no one was looking, he tipped his food on to DJ’s plate.

Shelly said, ‘I suspect there’s a lintel, so a little higher this time, DJ.’

He swung the mallet again. She was right. The next five rows fell in, but didn’t drop. They landed on a platform inside the chimney breast. Gordon and Shelly shifted them into the barrow.

‘What’s that, Gramps? It looks like a metal shelf with a trapdoor and a little chain.’

‘That, lad, is the draught trap. When it’s open, it draws the fire, and when the wood or coal’s goin’ good and proper, yer shuts it to stop the heat disappearin’ up the chimney. Look—’ He stuck his head in the chimney and pulled the chain. The little trapdoor almost closed.

‘Dad, be careful, a brick might fall on your head!’

‘Somethin’s jammed inside, stoppin’ it workin’. ’Ere, what’s this?’

‘Looks like one of those old camera spools, Gramps.’

‘No it ain’t. Yer know what this is, it’s yer original YouTube.’

DJ threw an incredulous glance at Shelly. She bit her lip and shook her head.

‘How do you mean, Gramps?’