The story that I've heard is that Eric's dad was a railway worker made redundant by the Beeching cuts. His dad decided to emigrate to Australia as a "Ten Pound Pom" taking Erc with him. His mother was to have followed them out later. As happened in many other cases, in the end she felt unable to break with her life in Scotland and never came out to join them.

Years later Eric saved up the fare to travel back and see his mother. "Leaving Nancy" describes him having to say goodbye to his mum when the visit came to an end, not knowing if he'd ever see her again.