In the spring, the Residents' Association asked for volunteers. Nobody else put their hand up, so I did.

I organised a litter pick. Forty people came. I organised a summer fun day on the green with a bouncy castle, a cake stall and a dog show. Three hundred people came. Owners and renters, all mixed together. Doris won the cake competition. Josh Carter won the egg-and-spoon race.

People started stopping me in the street to say thank you.

Nigel didn't like that.

In the next newsletter, he wrote a column about “protecting the character of Kingsmere.” He described the people in rented houses as transient residents.

Then “Owners' Parking” signs appeared at the end of each close. Nobody from Larkspur had put them up. Nigel had ordered them himself, online.

Then a letter went round to every rented house, on Residents' Association paper.

Please remember that the green and play area are shared spaces. Residents should supervise children at all times and avoid excessive noise, particularly ball games.

It only went to the renters.

Doris showed me hers, holding it between two fingers.

“Twenty years I've lived here,” she said. “Twenty years. And I'm ‘transient.'”