The Royal Air Force probably never realised they had built their main runway on sacred ground.

Right here is where the old pagan ritual of burning peg dolls took place, the same peg dolls mentioned by the town blacksmith. Dig under the turf here and you'll find the charred remains of thousands of little dolls, each one representing a citizen of Oldton. It's yet another example of the town's fascination with fire.

It's here too that Oldton's only genuine ancient artefact was dug up: an 18th century tobacco jar that now contains my father's ashes, and perhaps is still a haunted vessel, housing the spirits of all the lost people of Oldton who passed across this ground. (OK - so I made that bit up...)