boris johnson has revealed the eccentric life of his grandmother, who turned her back on high society to live without electricity or running water and cook in a cow shed the mayor of london spoke with pride of his resilient judo loving gran, who spent years in the depths of exmoor national park in devon his paternal grandmother irene, who was also known as buster, shunned the glamour of london to move to the countryside with her husband to start a simple life boris johnson has revealed the eccentric life of his grandmother irene (pictured with her dogs), who turned her back on high society to live without electricity or running water and cook in a cow shed  close family: the mayor of london spoke with pride of his late grandmother in a foreword for her book  boris johnson's family pictured in the garden of their exmoor home in 1960's from left johnny, birdie, stanley, buster and peter with hilary in the front  mrs johnson and her husband johnny swapped a blissful life of domestic servants and bridge parties for a remote existence at a farm, west nethercote boris, writing a foreword in a book about his grandmother's life, said mrs johnson cooked in cheap pots in a kitchen which used to be a cow shed   but still served him dishes which have stayed with him all his life she wrote the book before her death in 1987, but it is only being published now the mayor of london wrote: 'she had no collection of fancy saucepans, no sabatier knives   and yet she produced dishes whose tastes and smells i can remember today, almost half a century later, with proust like rapture 'i am not sure that she was ever really taught to cook she was born in the pavillon du barry at versailles; she went to cheltenham ladies college; she read russian and got half a blue for judo at oxford 'no, i don't think cooking featured much on her early curriculum it would be fair to say that her kitchen   a converted cow byre   was not exactly a chef's paradise 'when the concrete floor needed cleaning, granny would get a handful of wet tea leaves, hurl them into the dusty corners, and sweep up the gloop with a broom' mrs johnson wrote the book before her death in 1987 it is called alas poor johnny, after her husband johnny (pictured) johnny   a warm and friendly man   is said to have had a strong influence on boris' unique sense of humour  boris, who is running to become an mp in the upcoming general election, reveals some of his earliest memories of life on the exmoor plains with his beloved grandmother, who lived in the west country until her death the book, alas poor johnny, is named after buster's husband johnny   a warm and friendly man said to have influenced boris' unique sense of humour a spokesman for publishers troubador said: 'in 1951, buster johnson moved from surrey to exmoor with her husband johnny, four children, two dogs and a van load of pigs and poultry 'alas poor johnny, written some 10 years later, is her account of their life there, and of farming on exmoor in the fifties, told with a strong sense of drama and of the absurd 'above all, her life is filled by the animals, taking the place of absent friends in her affections 'there's also a small but strong supporting cast, including busybody mrs stevens at the next door farm; arthur the ex cowman who moves with them from surrey; srn tommie, the butt of an aggressive ram   and alby the rabbit catcher, who plays the mouth organ and thrills the children' the first half of the book details buster's move from the gentility of the home counties to the wilds of exmoor the book details mrs johnson's move from the gentility of the home counties to the wilds of exmoor (pictured) johnny had become tired of life in his grandson's beloved capital city and, having served as a coastal commander pilot at braunton in devon, had fallen in love with the mysterious hills that rise from the north devon shoreline far from their idyllic life in surrey, exmoor provided no electricity, no running water and no indoor toilet in a postscript for the book, boris' aunt birdie, who decided to publish her mother's book, said: 'as my mother hoped, over the years nethercote has remained a constant in the lives of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, wherever we are 'it is a place which, for those who have spent time there, becomes ingrained in our dna it may sometimes, as she experienced, be hard to live there; but it is always hard to leave' alas poor johnny is available as both a paperback (£799) and as an ebook
johnson boris johnson's devon london
boris johnson's grandmother moved to the countryside to live a simple life  she lived without water or power and cooked dinner in a cow shed kitchen  mr johnson spoke of pride of his resilient gran in foreword for her book  mayor of london reveals some of his earliest memories at her devon farm 