We hit a cat on a motorway at about 80mph one night driving home from Les's legendary singarounds at the Beech in Chorlton. It did around £200 worth of damage to the front of the car - and ever since the neighbourhood cats hiss & raise their heckles at the sight of it... More things in heaven and earth? I shouldn't wonder.

Once a young neighbourhood girl of 11 knocked on my door saying that a neighbour's cat had just been hit by a car. I remember we sat together at the roadside as this noble creature lay dying. Emma asked if we should say prayer; being a storyteller I said it would be best to tell it a story - or rather tell young Emma a story who was pretty emotional. I told the King of the Cats, which I'm you'll all be familiar with (see HERE if you're not) and even as the light went out in Tim Toldrum's eyes (for it was he I'm sure) there came a distant cat howl that chills me to the marrow just to think of it.