One Valve for the Queen
Coronation Day, 1953. Rain is falling on Albion Terrace, thirty neighbours are coming to Ida Brindle's front room to watch the Queen crowned on the only television in the street, and at nine in the morning the screen goes dark. Peggy Hulme mends wirelesses for a living and knows exactly which little valve has died. With every shop shut for the holiday, she has until half past twelve to find another, even if it means knocking on the one door she swore she never would.