Poppy grew up in Highbury, North London. However, she spent her summer holidays at her aunt and uncle’s cottage in Suffolk. The country life suited Poppy, she loved roaming the fields, orchards and feeding the farm animals. So this perhaps is where her storytelling first began. Rabbits could always be seen running in fields, as could foxes, horses and many other animals.Alas, these summers had to end, for Poppy was now old enough to work. When the job was offered in the big busy West End, she was delighted and stayed there for many years, but her heart was always in the countryside.