In The Lady in the Van Alan Bennett describes his very odd long-term relationship with "Miss Shepherd". Miss S. first came to the attention of Bennett in the late 1960s. She and her perpetually stalled van (or rather: a succession of such vans) could be found in his Camden Town neighborhood, parked ever-closer to Bennett's home.

Eventually he allowed her to keep it in his own driveway, giving her sanctuary in his garden, as he describes it.