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Terry on the Fence
A young boy finds himself growing more sympathetic and friendly with the local gang leader who had at first terrorized him into helping carry out some thefts.
256 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1977
About the author
Bernard Ashley
111 books14 followersBernard Ashley lives in Charlton, south east London, only a street or so from where he was born. He was educated at the Roan School, Blackheath and Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School, Rochester. After National Service in the RAF Bernard trained to teach at Trent Park College of Education, specializing in Drama. He followed this with an Advanced Diploma at the Cambridge Institute and has been awarded honorary Doctorates in Education by the University of Greenwich and in letters by the University of Leicester. During his career as a teacher he worked in Kent, Hertfordshire, Newham and Greenwich, with thirty years of headships in the last three.
He is now writing full time. His first novel, The Trouble with Donovan Croft (recently re-issued by OUP), was published in 1974 and won the 'Other' Award, an alternative to the Carnegie Medal (for which he has been shortlisted three times). Nineteen further novels have followed, gaining him a reputation as a 'gritty' writer in sympathy with the under dog. In Margaret Meek's view he gets inside children's heads, who say that this is what it's like for them.
Of Tiger Without Teeth Philip Pullman wrote in The Guardian:
'A commonplace setting, an everyday situation, ordinary characters. Bernard Ashley's great gift is to turn what seems to be low-key realism into something much stronger and more resonant. It has something to do with empathy, compassion, an undimmed thirst for decency and justice. In a way, Ashley is doing what ‘Play for Today’ used to do when TV was a medium that connected honestly with its own time, and what so few artists do now: using realism in the service of moral concern.'
Johnnie's Blitz (Barn Owl), drew on his wartime experiences as a child in and around London; while Little Soldier (Orchard) sums up his writing: a pacy plot with an emotional turning point, a theme that concerns him, and characters that grip as real people. It was shortlisted for the 'Guardian' young fiction prize and for the Carnegie Medal. His latest novel is Flashpoint - a thriller, the third of the Ben Maddox stories.
Bernard’s picture books include Double the Love (Carol Thompson illustrating) from Orchard, Growing Good (Bloomsbury), Cleversticks, and A Present for Paul (Harper Collins). Tamarind published The Bush, illustrated by Lynne Willey. His popular stories for young readers include Dinner Ladies Don't Count (Puffin), Justin and the Demon Drop Kick, and I'm Trying to Tell You (both Happy Cat).
Television work has included Running Scared (from which he wrote the novel), The Country Boy (BBC) and his adaptation of his own Dodgem which won the Royal Television Society award as the best children's entertainment of its year.
Stage plays are The Old Woman Who Lived in A Cola Can (Edinburgh Festival and tour), The Secret of Theodore Brown (Unicorn Theatre for Children in the West End), and Little Soldier (published by Heinemann).
A strong family man, Bernard is married to Iris Ashley, a former London headteacher, and they have three sons. Their eldest, Chris, also a headteacher, co-wrote with Bernard the TV series Three Seven Eleven (Granada), and his latest "Wasim" books were published in 2007 by Frances Lincoln. David is a London headteacher and an expert on children's reading; and Jonathan is an actor, writer and director whose writing for theatre includes Stiffs; and who was writer and voice director in Los Angeles and London on Primal and Ghosthunter for Playstation 2.
Bernard and Iris have four grandchildren, Paul, Carl, Rosie and Luke.
He is now writing full time. His first novel, The Trouble with Donovan Croft (recently re-issued by OUP), was published in 1974 and won the 'Other' Award, an alternative to the Carnegie Medal (for which he has been shortlisted three times). Nineteen further novels have followed, gaining him a reputation as a 'gritty' writer in sympathy with the under dog. In Margaret Meek's view he gets inside children's heads, who say that this is what it's like for them.
Of Tiger Without Teeth Philip Pullman wrote in The Guardian:
'A commonplace setting, an everyday situation, ordinary characters. Bernard Ashley's great gift is to turn what seems to be low-key realism into something much stronger and more resonant. It has something to do with empathy, compassion, an undimmed thirst for decency and justice. In a way, Ashley is doing what ‘Play for Today’ used to do when TV was a medium that connected honestly with its own time, and what so few artists do now: using realism in the service of moral concern.'
Johnnie's Blitz (Barn Owl), drew on his wartime experiences as a child in and around London; while Little Soldier (Orchard) sums up his writing: a pacy plot with an emotional turning point, a theme that concerns him, and characters that grip as real people. It was shortlisted for the 'Guardian' young fiction prize and for the Carnegie Medal. His latest novel is Flashpoint - a thriller, the third of the Ben Maddox stories.
Bernard’s picture books include Double the Love (Carol Thompson illustrating) from Orchard, Growing Good (Bloomsbury), Cleversticks, and A Present for Paul (Harper Collins). Tamarind published The Bush, illustrated by Lynne Willey. His popular stories for young readers include Dinner Ladies Don't Count (Puffin), Justin and the Demon Drop Kick, and I'm Trying to Tell You (both Happy Cat).
Television work has included Running Scared (from which he wrote the novel), The Country Boy (BBC) and his adaptation of his own Dodgem which won the Royal Television Society award as the best children's entertainment of its year.
Stage plays are The Old Woman Who Lived in A Cola Can (Edinburgh Festival and tour), The Secret of Theodore Brown (Unicorn Theatre for Children in the West End), and Little Soldier (published by Heinemann).
A strong family man, Bernard is married to Iris Ashley, a former London headteacher, and they have three sons. Their eldest, Chris, also a headteacher, co-wrote with Bernard the TV series Three Seven Eleven (Granada), and his latest "Wasim" books were published in 2007 by Frances Lincoln. David is a London headteacher and an expert on children's reading; and Jonathan is an actor, writer and director whose writing for theatre includes Stiffs; and who was writer and voice director in Los Angeles and London on Primal and Ghosthunter for Playstation 2.
Bernard and Iris have four grandchildren, Paul, Carl, Rosie and Luke.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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March 31, 2013Read it 30 odd years ago and can still feel the fear of what it must have been like to be bullied by older boys
December 4, 2025
Ironically, the story behind me reading this book, about a boy, Terry, nicking stuff from his school, involves me nicking this book from my school, haha!
I think it must've been about second year, which would have been 1985, myself and my classmates had been daring each other to get up to some mischief or other. My dare was to nick a book from the small portable shelves that had been randomly sitting in our classroom, and just by pure chance, as it was the first book to hand, it turned out to be, 'Terry on the Fence' by Bernard Ashley. Now, before any would-be do-gooders start screaming in self righteous outrage, about historical crime, and jump up onto the blower to call the Fuzz, before I left school a few years later, and unbeknownst to my muckers, I returned the book, unfortunately however, for reasons unknown, or at least unremembered, as I was an avid reader as a child and teenager, I returned it unread (even if I hadn't, my daughter, who also attended the same school, took my collection of Asterix books into school one time, to show her teacher and classmates. And unfortunately, I only ever received HALF of them back! Wail! So, I'd say, about a dozen Asterix books would have been more than a fair swap for a copy of 'Terry on the bloody Fence'! Haha! And thankfully, I have since replaced all of the said Asterix books!).
However, not reading 'Terry on the Fence' has always haunted me, for some strange reason, and despite the best efforts of my gang of school chums at the time, to keep mockingly asking if I'd read the half inched novel yet? It's something that I always thought had passed me by, but recently I decided to remedy the situation. After a cursory search online, I soon discovered that it was cheaply available on eBay, and so an old copy was soon flinging its way back into my library! Saf Eas' Lun-dan 'ere we come, innit!
Bernard Ashley's tale is actually pretty good. Where the core subject matters, that are covered by the book, inner city decay and regeneration (gentrification now), class and social division, youth peer pressure and teenage angst, domestic variances and abuse are all really quite timeless. I also thought that perhaps the book would have very much been ’of it's time’, but apart from one or two minor things, like asbestos garages (jings!) and one youth calling Terry, a 'Fox Hill poof' (giggle, giggle!), there wasn't really anything more 'out of date' than you'd find in your average historical fiction period drama. And I wouldn't hesitate in reading this out to my granddaughters in a few years time, because even although, Terry himself is only eleven, I think the book would be more for twelve to early teens. However, there was still enough relatable content, for me, as an adult, to not get overly bored.
The book starts with an eminently relatable argument between Terry and his slightly older sibling, Tracy. Whom Terry regards, probably correctly, as an interfering busy body, who should mind her own bloody business and stop poking her nose into his affairs. I hear you buddy, haha! Ostensibly, the argument is about the boy being allowed to wear his new and much adored black shirt to school again, tomorrow. A shirt which Terry thinks makes him look older and more sophisticated. But because it’s new, Tracy is insisting that it be kept for special occasions, and as well as getting on her brothers nerves somewhat, she is appealing to their mother to arbitrate in her favour.
Anyway, after she does, with an added clip round the lad’s ear hole, and with what Terence perceives to be their mother taking his sister's side, as always, and still in his new shirt, he storms off and out quite literally into a storm blowing hard and furious with thunder and lightning.
After which he eventually stumbles into a gang while seeking shelter, who's leader, Les, by knife point, ropes the unfortunate and sopping wet Terry into robbing his Fox Hill school, which Les and his motley crew consider to be posh, which it certainly is, when compared to their own, run down and crime ridden educational establishment. But considering it’s mainly Les and his cadres doing most of the crime, the reasons for their school’s bad reputation, is sort of a self fulfilling prophecy! Nevertheless, the story becomes particularly interesting when conveying Terry's conflicting thoughts as to what is happening to him. At school, he's always been kind of a lone wolf, acquaintances with everyone, but best friends with nobody. And although ostensibly being forced against his will and generally being called 'Pig-face', but still, he’s now part of a gang, about to break into his school! Exciting times indeed.
However, the break in at the school is eventually interrupted by the school caretaker, with Les and Terry having a top of the range radio each, liberated from a cupboard in the headmaster’s office. As the janitor gives chase, the lads make their escape in the downpour, where Les saves Terry in the nick of time, by giving him his hand and hauling him up and over the school gate, out of the clutches of the grasping caretaker. All of which confused Terry somewhat, because as well as being a friendly act by Les, the former bully had also called him 'Tel', rather than, Pig-face!
This leads the story to ask some rather smart questions about the nuance of language, as when Terry is inevitably rumbled the next morning, through the caretaker's description, ironically, of a lad in a shiny new black shirt haha, and he decides to immediately come clean, at first the headmaster believes Terry's story about being forced into the break in at knife point, by a gang of strangers. But when he discovers that the gang leader, had helped Terry over the gate, and called him, 'Tel', the headmaster is then convinced Terry is lying, and was indeed, a willing participant. He then gives Terry an ultimatum, to have both radios back, or else he's in big trouble!
This sees Terry going off to look for Les to retrieve the radio that he took. Needless to say, that when they eventually meet up again, Terry sees Les in a very different light. He sees what Les has to endure in his home life, an overly house proud, domineering, abusive mother, who, if she isn't verbally or physically abusing Les, she's neglecting the lad. Terry concludes that Les would probably be better off in a Borstal, than this egregious shambles of a so called family home!
In the brilliant Netflix drama series, ‘Mindhunter’, we see that most of the highlighted serial killers on the show, have very similar mothers and family backgrounds!
Nevertheless, they eventually go off to retrieve the radio, which Les has already sold, by breaking into the purchaser’s shed, over a high fence (the one Terry is on, in the book's title), at the bottom of his garden. They set this up by pretending to play 'catch' with a ball, that one of them will 'accidentally’ throw over the fence and into the bloke's garden. Then Les will leap over and break into the shed, while Terry keeps watch. This leads to Tel feeling awkward and vulnerable, and wishing he had a placard to hold up saying, 'This boy is waiting for his friend to get his ball back from someone's back garden' Everything was easier when everyone knew exactly what was supposed to be going on! Haha! This really made me giggle, seen it, done it, bought the t-shirt.
So, at the end of the day, I'm glad I had that itch, to finally get this book again and read it, after forty feckin’ years of wondering, just why the f*ck Terry was on that feckin’ fence?! Haha!
I think it must've been about second year, which would have been 1985, myself and my classmates had been daring each other to get up to some mischief or other. My dare was to nick a book from the small portable shelves that had been randomly sitting in our classroom, and just by pure chance, as it was the first book to hand, it turned out to be, 'Terry on the Fence' by Bernard Ashley. Now, before any would-be do-gooders start screaming in self righteous outrage, about historical crime, and jump up onto the blower to call the Fuzz, before I left school a few years later, and unbeknownst to my muckers, I returned the book, unfortunately however, for reasons unknown, or at least unremembered, as I was an avid reader as a child and teenager, I returned it unread (even if I hadn't, my daughter, who also attended the same school, took my collection of Asterix books into school one time, to show her teacher and classmates. And unfortunately, I only ever received HALF of them back! Wail! So, I'd say, about a dozen Asterix books would have been more than a fair swap for a copy of 'Terry on the bloody Fence'! Haha! And thankfully, I have since replaced all of the said Asterix books!).
However, not reading 'Terry on the Fence' has always haunted me, for some strange reason, and despite the best efforts of my gang of school chums at the time, to keep mockingly asking if I'd read the half inched novel yet? It's something that I always thought had passed me by, but recently I decided to remedy the situation. After a cursory search online, I soon discovered that it was cheaply available on eBay, and so an old copy was soon flinging its way back into my library! Saf Eas' Lun-dan 'ere we come, innit!
Bernard Ashley's tale is actually pretty good. Where the core subject matters, that are covered by the book, inner city decay and regeneration (gentrification now), class and social division, youth peer pressure and teenage angst, domestic variances and abuse are all really quite timeless. I also thought that perhaps the book would have very much been ’of it's time’, but apart from one or two minor things, like asbestos garages (jings!) and one youth calling Terry, a 'Fox Hill poof' (giggle, giggle!), there wasn't really anything more 'out of date' than you'd find in your average historical fiction period drama. And I wouldn't hesitate in reading this out to my granddaughters in a few years time, because even although, Terry himself is only eleven, I think the book would be more for twelve to early teens. However, there was still enough relatable content, for me, as an adult, to not get overly bored.
The book starts with an eminently relatable argument between Terry and his slightly older sibling, Tracy. Whom Terry regards, probably correctly, as an interfering busy body, who should mind her own bloody business and stop poking her nose into his affairs. I hear you buddy, haha! Ostensibly, the argument is about the boy being allowed to wear his new and much adored black shirt to school again, tomorrow. A shirt which Terry thinks makes him look older and more sophisticated. But because it’s new, Tracy is insisting that it be kept for special occasions, and as well as getting on her brothers nerves somewhat, she is appealing to their mother to arbitrate in her favour.
Anyway, after she does, with an added clip round the lad’s ear hole, and with what Terence perceives to be their mother taking his sister's side, as always, and still in his new shirt, he storms off and out quite literally into a storm blowing hard and furious with thunder and lightning.
After which he eventually stumbles into a gang while seeking shelter, who's leader, Les, by knife point, ropes the unfortunate and sopping wet Terry into robbing his Fox Hill school, which Les and his motley crew consider to be posh, which it certainly is, when compared to their own, run down and crime ridden educational establishment. But considering it’s mainly Les and his cadres doing most of the crime, the reasons for their school’s bad reputation, is sort of a self fulfilling prophecy! Nevertheless, the story becomes particularly interesting when conveying Terry's conflicting thoughts as to what is happening to him. At school, he's always been kind of a lone wolf, acquaintances with everyone, but best friends with nobody. And although ostensibly being forced against his will and generally being called 'Pig-face', but still, he’s now part of a gang, about to break into his school! Exciting times indeed.
However, the break in at the school is eventually interrupted by the school caretaker, with Les and Terry having a top of the range radio each, liberated from a cupboard in the headmaster’s office. As the janitor gives chase, the lads make their escape in the downpour, where Les saves Terry in the nick of time, by giving him his hand and hauling him up and over the school gate, out of the clutches of the grasping caretaker. All of which confused Terry somewhat, because as well as being a friendly act by Les, the former bully had also called him 'Tel', rather than, Pig-face!
This leads the story to ask some rather smart questions about the nuance of language, as when Terry is inevitably rumbled the next morning, through the caretaker's description, ironically, of a lad in a shiny new black shirt haha, and he decides to immediately come clean, at first the headmaster believes Terry's story about being forced into the break in at knife point, by a gang of strangers. But when he discovers that the gang leader, had helped Terry over the gate, and called him, 'Tel', the headmaster is then convinced Terry is lying, and was indeed, a willing participant. He then gives Terry an ultimatum, to have both radios back, or else he's in big trouble!
This sees Terry going off to look for Les to retrieve the radio that he took. Needless to say, that when they eventually meet up again, Terry sees Les in a very different light. He sees what Les has to endure in his home life, an overly house proud, domineering, abusive mother, who, if she isn't verbally or physically abusing Les, she's neglecting the lad. Terry concludes that Les would probably be better off in a Borstal, than this egregious shambles of a so called family home!
In the brilliant Netflix drama series, ‘Mindhunter’, we see that most of the highlighted serial killers on the show, have very similar mothers and family backgrounds!
Nevertheless, they eventually go off to retrieve the radio, which Les has already sold, by breaking into the purchaser’s shed, over a high fence (the one Terry is on, in the book's title), at the bottom of his garden. They set this up by pretending to play 'catch' with a ball, that one of them will 'accidentally’ throw over the fence and into the bloke's garden. Then Les will leap over and break into the shed, while Terry keeps watch. This leads to Tel feeling awkward and vulnerable, and wishing he had a placard to hold up saying, 'This boy is waiting for his friend to get his ball back from someone's back garden' Everything was easier when everyone knew exactly what was supposed to be going on! Haha! This really made me giggle, seen it, done it, bought the t-shirt.
So, at the end of the day, I'm glad I had that itch, to finally get this book again and read it, after forty feckin’ years of wondering, just why the f*ck Terry was on that feckin’ fence?! Haha!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
ref-only
June 4, 2024"Terry on the Fence: In his relationship with Les and his gang, Terry is venturing into foreign territory, less than a couple of miles from his home. Terry comes from one side of the common. Had he come from the other side where Les and his gang did, they wouldn't have taken any notice of him. But they knew where he came from, by all sorts of indications — the way he talked, his clothes, even his plimsolls. They wore boots. All that sort of thing, the interactions of people from different
communities, fascinates me.'
'I found Terry on the Fence probably one of the most satisfying of my books to write. It's got its problems — I think some of the vocabulary might be a bit difficult for kids — but I got a great deal of pleasure from it. In fact I'd like to think of it simply as a novel that children or adults can enjoy on their own level.'" - Books for Keeps, Bernard Ashley interview, 6Jan1981
communities, fascinates me.'
'I found Terry on the Fence probably one of the most satisfying of my books to write. It's got its problems — I think some of the vocabulary might be a bit difficult for kids — but I got a great deal of pleasure from it. In fact I'd like to think of it simply as a novel that children or adults can enjoy on their own level.'" - Books for Keeps, Bernard Ashley interview, 6Jan1981
May 18, 2022
This is really good. Atmospheric, morally subtle and really enhanced by the Keeping illustrations. I'm not sure how many children's books get written like this now because we are too politically correct to allow for two kids from a "good home" and a "bad home" interacting. It is very much of its time but, at the same time, the value of the story is timeless. Definitely going to seek out more Ashley for teen audiences.
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September 21, 2021DFR. There was something so off with the translation I had that I couldn't get past the first 50 pages. I think the story is interesting but it is definitely not written for my demographic. I did have a Tom Sawyer phase like 6 years ago so maybe I would have enjoyed this more back then.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews