The Happy-go-lucky Morgans

The story opens on Abercorran Street, a tidy row of four‑bedroom houses in the quiet suburb of Balham, where the Morgan family lives in a home that feels more like a Welsh estate than a London terrace. Their house is full of quirks—a library of forgotten magazines, a conservatory crowded with bicycles, pigeon‑houses, and a shady garden the children call ‘the Wilderness.’ Through the narrator’s eyes we meet the parents, five sons, the solitary daughter Jessie, and Ann, the long‑serving maid who knows every hidden nook, painting a warm, vivid portrait of everyday life tinged with an uneasy charm.

Beneath the tranquil surface, hints of unease emerge. A mysterious girl is found dead in the pond among the golden lilies, and the narrator senses that Ann and the tall Roland keep secrets locked away. As the neighbourhood changes—trees felled, the pond drained, new houses rising—the sense of loss deepens, suggesting the Morgans’ carefree world may be on the brink of change. Listeners are invited to follow the narrator’s nostalgic yet probing journey as familiar streets begin to reveal hidden shadows.