“Let me take you by the hand.. 

And lead you through the streets of London

Show you something

to make you change your mind”

Lyrics from a well known song by Ralph McTell, released in 1969.

I wish the world I knew could be shown to those who don’t see it. That I could take them by the hand, lead them through the streets of not only cities but along the well trodden pavements in our small, sheltered, hidden away towns and villages. That I could take them on a tour of the haunted houses and camouflaged businesses that kept me trapped in the shadows for decades while people blindly wandered past.

For a while now there has been a repeating need running through my mind and my words: seeing the unseen. The need to remain hidden whilst crying out to be seen has always been there, in my early teens I started writing a book about a Shadow Man who was both a guide and a threat.

Where I’ve lived for most of my life is often portrayed by picturesque scenes of unspoiled countryside and Marple-esque market towns. Towns with low crimes rates, local bars and annual festivals where everyone knows everyone else. Quiet, sleepy towns and villages, miles away from the hustle and bustle of the cities, miles away from danger.

These are the streets I want to show you. Cobbled, circling, lined by family run businesses and filled with friendly chatter over a coffee or a trip to the park.

Neighbours blethering, local gossip and news being shared. Surprise when the big named shops move into town, nostalgia as established places close down or move on. Tourists welcomed and local heroes celebrated. A great place to bring up kids.

How do I paint you the truth?

Not to scare you, not to shock. Simply so you can see. If you could see through the mirage, the masks, the veil of nostalgia then you could protect the souls within. You’d see the actors backstage and realise it’s all a script, one we all follow, participants without realising.

A guided tour of horrors behind the curtains. Meeting characters along the way. Some good, kind, some not so much.

I’d introduce you to the real world that many live in, a world of fear, pain and numbness. A world ignored or unnoticed by most. Manipulation and exploitation just under the surface.

How direct should I be?

Shattering illusions can be risky but needed. Letting people see the dangers, showing them the red flags all around them, guiding them gently through a world unseen.

Children being groomed, adults too. Sexually exploited for the gain of esteemed and celebrated locals. Grooming rings operating unnoticed and unchallenged, in those picturesque towns and villages, in the schools, the cafes, chip shops and bars. The abuse of children, the abuse of adults trapped in these rings, webs, happening behind the doors we walk past every day.

The authority awareness and involvement, professionals participating whether aware or not. Every layer of community support complicit by ignorance of knowledge. No one asking any questions.

The links that happen the deeper into the web you fall, the links to bigger business and city life. The interlink of rings operating a few miles away, backed by bigger players but all based on the same systems. Systems of manipulation and control, of fear, terror, abuse and harm. Systems that reach the unseen victims as well as the unnoticed abusers.

Like the rivers that flow through these small towns, it all starts somewhere.

If I could take you by the hand,

would you come with me?