On 2 December 1929 Roy Middleton was born in the newly built hospital on Uttoxeter Road, Derby. It was a time of terrible depression and it was a struggle for families to exist let alone live. There was no such thing as the welfare state or social services and definitely no child benefit. If you needed a doctor, you had to pay for his services. A wedding ring was pawned or even the husband's Sunday suit. The death rate was very high and it was difficult to understand why life was so hard for the poorest in the land, while others seemed to want for nothing.