Martin Graham was determined to see his dream come true

Whenever the Graham family departed on holiday, young Martin Graham went through a particular procedure. First, he said a formal goodbye to the garden, the trees and the house. Next, he checked that his treasures were safely stowed. In a hole in a dry-stone wall he hid his secret phone, by means of which he arranged with the local pharmacist’s son to steal out at night to mix up gunpowder. He made sure, too, that his bicycle was locked up. Not until all this was done could he leave.