Ian Pollock's Illustrations for Housing Benefit Hill

Housing Benefit Hill was a series of columns which appeared in the Guardian Weekend between September 1993 and September 1996. Originally it featured a cartoon series by Steven Appleby, which were very funny, but not specifically intended as illustrations of the text. (Mind you, sometimes they could be accidentally appropriate). However in September 1995 the editors at the Guardian commissioned Ian Pollock to illustrate the stories, and the results are shown below.

They are remarkable drawings, not least because somehow or another Ian seemed to be able to capture not only the essence of the story, but the actual appearance of some of the characters. It was genuinely uncanny. I never met Ian, and, as far as I know, he never visited the people or places I was talking about, and yet, on the scantiest of information, he was able to do a portrait of that person of such accuracy it was as if they were sitting for him as a model.

The most telepathically precise are Andre Van Der Beest in the third story, Caged Beest, "Kerry" in the fourth story, Ain't life a bitch, "Stan" in the sixth story, Lonesome trucker, and Mark in the twelfth story, Sitting target. You would genuinely think that he was working from a photograph, or that he had met these people.

Also the pictures of Steve, the Bard of Ely in the second and the fifth stories are pretty good. He doesn't look like that any more of course, having lost much of his hair, but back in the 70s, which is when these stories are set, he really did look like these pictures, as I'm sure he will agree. Steve is also featured in the eighth story Primordial booze, but he doesn't look like Steve there, he looks like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, which is what, in fact, he had turned into. Even the picture of my son looks remarkably like my son - though his eyes are the wrong colour. As for the rest, they are great illustrations, and worth looking at: particularly if you happen to own a copy of the book of Housing Benefit Hill. It could definitely have done with some of these pictures to brighten it up a bit.

The images are complimented by the blurb that appeared with the original stories, and in the case of two of them, with the story itself.

Enjoy these lovely, quirky, humorous pictures by Ian Pollock. I know I do.

It's not every day that you meet an ex-Incredible String Band member turned Lady Mayoress and find yourself picturing her with a paraffin stove perched on her head

Philippa was concerned at the amount of bad drugs he was taking and the amount of booze he was pouring down his neck

It's a collection of trees made of crepe paper on a painted cardboard base. 'Cobham Woods," he says with a grin. 'I 'aven't figured where to put it yet'

Roma was dangerous: a pent-up fury of uncontrollable anger and unrealised needs. Like her owner, Kerry

'Now I'd be delighted to be on stage at a festival with thousands of people going wild about me. But then I just thought: "God, these people are mad going wild about this Rubber Ducky junk" '

You can read Rubber soul here.

'Go into any truck-stop and you'll see them. Twenty trucks, 20 lorry drivers, one driver at each table sitting alone with his pint'

Another aspect of England I'm happy to show off to the kids is nutters in robes standing round in stone circles holding sticks, conducting ceremonies of healing for the Earth

Steve soon realised he was causing a sensation. Kids were screaming and hiding behind their parents' backs. And then he began to cackle

I all-hailed my cup of tea, drinking it down quickly. I bought another one, and all-hailed that, too, clasping the mug in my hands with a holy feeling of relief and joy

You can read this story here.

They were already in full flow, chanting and dancing around a woman with raised arms who was wearing a bird mask and acting as a human maypole for the night

There was my son, smiling and looking at me forlornly, looking all of five of his fifteen years, small and fragile and lost in that bare room

The funniest part of the whole venture was the way in which people tried to ignore him. An insectizoid alien goes shopping in a rubber suit, and no one notices

You can read this story here.

It was a good two miles to the filling station, but downhill most of the way. God made that road for me. He must have known I was going to run out of petrol that day

He told me I had to keep my dog on a lead, 'in case it goes for the kids', despite the fact I've been here six years and my dog plays with the local kids most of the time