We were forbidden from going to the drive-in cinema in Preston because it was full of drug addicts. So we grabbed our cousins and went fishing. The rains had stopped, the weather was mild, and the river had settled into a swiftly flowing grey and white streak. Hundreds of carp were stunned by the rapid water and were half-swimming half-floating. Four of us took off shoes and socks and climbed in, where we could grab the fish in our hands and watch them squirm doggedly fighting for release. It was safe if you remembered to dodge the buoyant trees.