On 2 September 2016, it will be exactly 350 years since the catastrophic Great Fire of London started in Thomas Farynor's bakery in Pudding Lane. The fire raged for four days, destroying 13,200 homes and leaving 65,000 people homeless. The speed at which London recovered, and the way it did so, laid the foundations for the global city we know today.

Time is weighing heavily as I sit at my window, sewing. Yes, buttons. Has it really come to this? Every once and awhile I’ll lean forward to wave or nod to a friend or a passing acquaintance. The window washer, the Baptist preacher, the local councilwoman, the `kids’ next door (who are now adults) … We know everybody. But truth be told, it didn’t get off to a good start. My husband Mike Rothschild and I moved into this house in Bow in East London at the end of the first year of the new millennium. Almost immediately we flew to the USA to visit family before returning to begin a massive renovation of our new home.