Two young men, close friends Nicholas Hope, a painter of talent, and Timothy Sharp, a budding writer, are living in Avalon, a city in the South-West of England. Sworn to live free, they take nothing from the State, but support themselves by bar and restaurant jobs, the odd commission, and 'borrowing' from friends. They survive on cigarettes and rum scrumpies. This story relates truly what happened to Nick and Timmy in that fateful summer of 1950.