I haven’t been able to write for the last few weeks because I’ve been locked away in Norwich Prison.

With William’s encouragement, I went into Norwich to have a look round. It was very strange. Many parts seemed familiar, but others were really weird. I eventually realised that there were large chunks of the city – whole rows of shops for instance – just missing. I tried to be systematic, and looked closely at each building, while I complied a list of what was there.

Finally I realised that it wasn't what was there, but what was missing, which made the place seem so strange. I couldn't find a single pub, cinema, theatre – no places of entertainment at all. Nor were there any radio or TV shops, or even shops selling music.

What with that, and most people being dressed in black, the place was really, really gloomy.

Around mid-day the streets cleared. I hadn’t spotted it immediately – it was only after I noticed how quiet everywhere was that I realised I was the only person left on the street. Two minutes later I’d been arrested.

I got a five-day sentence for not observing public prayers, and a ten-day one for blasphemy in a public place (I’d sworn as I was being arrested).

This clearly is a very fundamentalist religious state.

They took my wristpad away from me in prison. I’m writing this in the park (at least there are still parks here) as I’m not sure what to do next. William and Sarah must have wondered what happened to me; I suspect though that they would be shocked to find they have been harbouring a religious dissenter. I’ve still got the two pounds that William gave me, so I can at least eat for a while.

Coins, I think, may be something I ought to look at more closely in any future world. It is fascinating what they can reveal. William gave me two pounds – in loose change – payment, he said, for the work I had done. I did protest, as anything I had put into their smallholding could not even start to make up for their having saved my life. Nevertheless, he insisted – and he also insisted that I should go into Norwich in a day or two, to spend some of it.

I was delighted to see the old familiar coins, which, now I think about it, have been very different on some versions of Earth that I have visited. Here, though, were pennies and ha’pennies, shillings and half crowns. However, not one of them bore Charles’ head. Even the old coins, going back fifty years or so, didn’t show Elizabeth’s head. Instead, there were a series of grim-faced men.

I tried not to show my ignorance, but managed to obliquely bring up the subject of the faces on the coins. Fortunately, some sixth sense warned me not to refer to them as ‘the king’s heads’. William spoke with great fondness of Oliver VI, the last Lord Protector. The new man, Richard, was, he said, weak and shallow, compared to him. However, in William’s opinion, at least he is better than the hereditary kings to be found in most of Europe. The Kaiser, particularly, he spoke of with great bitterness – unusually so, for William strikes me as a very gentle man.

Clearly they do not have a monarchy here; when the revolution (I assume that is what overthrew them) took place, I cannot tell, and it didn’t seem wise to press William too much – obviously anyone born here would know at least that much of their own history. Sadly, I don’t. The title ‘Lord Protector’ rings bells with me, but I can’t remember if it was from British history, and if it was, from what period – in fact I’m pretty sure it was a title that was used in the North American Religious Revolution of the fifties; perhaps on this world that revolution spread to Britain too?

Well, I seem to have my strength back now – mainly due to the fitness regime William and Sarah have imposed on me. From Sarah’s part that has consisted of plenty of home-cooked food, with lots of vegetables. On William’s side, he has ensured that I have had plenty of exercise, helping him on his smallholding.

He’s kept me busy each day – and given all that they have done for me, it seems only fair that I offer them my labour. In fact, if they’ll let me, I hope I can stay here for a while, offering work for rent.

The only thing that really grates is their religiosity. I suppose I shouldn’t complain about it – after all, it probably lies behind their taking me in and caring for me, but I did find at first their expectation that I would be joining them for prayers first thing every morning, than again at lunchtime and in the evening was a bit much.

Once I started working outside, I realised that their prayer times were being governed by the ringing of the church bells. If their prayers hadn’t seemed so familiar, and Christian, I might have begun to wonder if this version of Britain wasn’t somehow a Muslim state. It certainly seems, from what I can gather from William and Sarah, and the neighbours that I have met, that regular prayer at set times throughout the day seems to be the pattern of life around here. Perhaps I’ve fallen into some kind of religious community – certainly these folks aren’t monks and nuns as I have experienced them in my world, but maybe this is some kind of variation of that.

I’ll see if I can get a day off soon, and go into Norwich, to see what life’s like there. There is certainly much that I would like to know more about. I haven’t seen a single book – other than the Bible – or any electrical devices more complicated than a light. Reflecting on that, I wonder if this might be a Shaker society, such as the one I visited in America a few years ago. On the other hand, there are plenty of motor cars flowing by freely outside, and I’m sure I’ve seen one in William’s garage.