The Fading

With the sun out, our estate comes to life: cars and motorbikes being scrubbed to gleaming perfection, cheap flyaway footballs from the Asda being booted over many a garden fence; smoke on the breeze, bass thumping the air with dubstep and grime rhythm. You can hear the cheers echoing through the bricks of every wall as Andy Murray takes Wimbledon by storm and the celebration ripples down the terraced row.

But you have to wait till the sun's nodding off to get the real feeling of calm in the streets and the gullies. In the heat of the day, it's as if every little activity you do is something to occupy your mind and keep you on an even keel. When the daylight fades, it comes as naturally as nightfall.