Clissold Park in North London boasts football pitches, ponds, woods, a playground, and even a deer park. But it also harbours urban cowgirls, secret love affairs, buried fortunes, match-making beagles, sentient trees … and a strong whiff of magic.

Told over the course of a year, twelve stories intertwine to form a vibrant tapestry of modern London life. Meet laid-back Lloyd the park-keeper and his fussy side-kick Rob, star-crossed sweethearts Josh and Essen, feisty horse-lover Abimbola, and the 97 ghosts who party every Halloween with Lord Clissold…

It Happened in Clissold Park will warm your cockles, open your eyes, and rekindle your wonder at the people and places we take for granted every day.

Enjoy your visit.

Hugh Todd has lived in North London for over 25 years. He has had several stories published, including 1 in 300,000,000 which was shortlisted for the Winston Fletcher prize. He has enjoyed a 30-year career in advertising as an award-winning copywriter and creative director and is the co-founder of the Behind the Billboard podcast. He gets his ideas from daily walks in his local park which is where his debut novel is set.

Hugh explains: “My day job is in advertising and I often walk round my local park thinking of ideas for campaigns I’m working on. I found myself observing the characters and wildlife and started to think of stories based on them. I decided to write them up as a series of linked narratives, with just one rule: they all had to have happened in Clissold Park. I ended up with around 30 different tales, edited down to 12, which I then set across a year in the park.”

RELEASE DATE: 28/06/2024 ISBN: 9781805143338 Price: £9.99