Fun in the Harbour is the fifth book in the series.

Laura and her friends meet Mystic Marge, the barge lady, at the local canal festival. One of Big Sue’s llamas becomes ill, and Blackjack, the travelers’ horse doctor, is called into action to save him. The bad-tempered canal lock keeper gets more than he bargained for when Laura and her friends get their revenge in the dark, cold waters of the harbor. And what ghostly phantom lurks above the organ in the village church?

Simon Dudley’s beautifully written and charmingly portrayed adventure series is a pleasure to listen to. The lost and nearly forgotten years of 1950s childhood can be experienced within these minutes, as the author cleverly immerses you in their world. This is a real treat for any listener, young or old, who fancies a bit of time travel back to when kids could literally be kids. The books can be listened to in any order, as the stories stand alone.

The main character in the series is Laura McBean, and because of her mischievous behavior, in her younger years, she was nicknamed Laura McNaughty. The stories are set in England in the 1950s, which was probably the last decade where kids could safely play outside and roam around to their hearts’ content.

Laura lives in the middle cottage of three, which used to be owned by the Railways, with her mother, her brother, Johnny, and their dog, Trudy. Her Nanny Conks lives in the first cottage, and “Neverin” (her Aunty Nancy) lives in the third.

Their garden backs onto Stokey’s woods, and the beach is a 15-minute walk through the woodland. A group of travelers set up camp in the woods during the summer months, and this is where you meet “Blackjack”, the travelers’ horse doctor, and his old horse Lightning.

The empty railway buildings and platform are a stone’s throw from the cottages, and the disused, heavily overgrown track is still in place all the way down to the village.

So come along and join Laura and her friends on their many adventures.