The book is a children's adventure story set in a place I used to play as a child known as Sideway, spelt Sideway, and commonly known and pronounced as Sid e way by many locals. Probably named after a railway term, as there is a railway there running adjacent to the canal that runs towards some railway sidings, hence the nickname Sideway. We used to walk from our housing estate in Bluton to this childhood place of adventure. There were stationary railway wagons, disused railway tracks, a canal, a farm called Whites Farm (but most folk used to call it Whiteys Farm, ) open fields with brooks with countless blackberry bushes, climbing trees, rope swings, woods and fishing ponds. It was just the perfect childrens playground, A natural playground, should I say. I could have lived there forever but sadly we have to grow up, so now it's only the odd day out on a bicycle ride to visit the area or to pass through it on the way to Trentham Lock or Stone. But that doesn't take away my memories. Hence, as a childrens author, it gives me the artistic freedom to revisit those lost days and fantasise about my childhood. For example, what life the Railway Cottages had, and how many children lived there? Then and now are totally out of my imagination along with some distant memories of the Cottages from my childhood, I say cottages but when I was a child I thought it was one big cottage but I was proved wrong as I got older.
It is the same about White`sFarm, some of it is from memory and some my imagination, so some parts may be true and parts may be fantasy.
But, the real fantasy adventure of this book is how the animals of today in that area try to survive the many changes taking place in this fabulous place we used to play in as children. It is a changing landscape of new warehouses with roads, loading bays and car parks that are taking over the animal`s homes and destroying their habitat, leading to thousands of animals trying to make it to the other side of the canal to try and save their families. The story is a fantasy tale about all the different types of wildlife that still live in this wonderful place.
