"A Ha'penny over the High Level" is the nostalgic story of one boy's life in Gateshead and Northumberland before World War 2. Thomas Knowles Bell was born in Gateshead. Despite grinding poverty he enjoyed the pleasures of a Tyneside childhood, including comic swaps, chip shops and games of 'munty kitty' in the playground. When his mother caught TB, the family moved to Swinhope near Allenheads and Thomas began a new life of haymaking, hen keeping, and Christmas guising and where a bicycle trip to the cinema was a marathon adventure. It is beautifully illustrated by Tony Kenyon's evocative line drawings. The title refers to the cost of a trip by horse tram across the High Level Bridge from Gateshead to Newcastle.