It's 1981 and the Thorpe family - Robert, Sandra and their eleven-year-old daughter Louise - decide to move from the city of Lincoln to a village seven miles away. Moving into New Barnham, they must each find their place in a village where they know no-one and Louise has to start at a big new secondary school.
The cul-de-sac they move into has eight semi-detached houses. Behind each front door live people with their own lives, their own stories to tell. Soon the whole of Whitlock Close will become involved in each other's lives, each other's stories.
The village has its own events too and besides the households of Whitlock Close, we find out about the book club and the Village Twinning Committee, while Louise joins the City Gymnastics Club for her own adventures.
In a Close which has all types of people, and all ages from four years old to a man in his nineties, it is understandable that all kinds of emotions will be found here. From young love to the loneliness of widowhood, from temptation and addiction to fun and friendship, we find everything here in Whitlock Close.
And lots of dogs and cats.