‘In the seedy streets of Richmond, you would not find two finer neighbours than the Redmonds’ (p.1). Cecil can always be found looking at the sky ready to pass on a few well chosen comments about the weather. Beyond this, his great love was the Richmond Football Club. When Charlie struggles to be the ‘man a the 'ouse,’ Mr. Redmond is there to offer boxing training, although it doesn't turn out to be quite what Charlie expected, and when it fails to live up to Charlie's grandiose daydreams, he is there to offer more unconventional advice on running training for the Ballarat Mile Race. It seems that Charlie's close acquaintances may live in the slums, but they have big hearts and big imaginations, so it comes as no surprise when the reader discovers that Cecil's ‘bit o' runnin' was from the school bully and he is not quite the experienced trainer Charlie thought him to be.