The name Kimberley is perhaps one of the best known in Falmouth and to many, and in particular those who have made a study of the town's history, it will mean none other than a family who have owned large chunks of the town for generations and still do.

The current Lord Kimberley lives in Wiltshire but the the Kimberley estate proper was always in Norfolk - well away from the county in which the family have also owned property for so long, yet toften described as a "much smaller and largely urban family estate".

It is an estate which the present Lord Kimberley says in his memoirs "provides me with a modest income through ground rents and leaseholds."

Lord Kimberley's memoirs are called The Whim of the Wheel - an appropriate title for a man who has obviously enjoyed his life with few regrets.

It has been written by Lord Kimberley with the help of his friend, journalist Charles Roberts, and can only be described as a cracking good read about a man born with a golden spoon in his mouth who inherited old genes of a long succession of womanisers.

He may now be 77 years of age, but Lord Kimberley, or Johnny Wodehouse to give him his birthname, succeeded his father, the fourth earl, when he was just 17 so he has had plenty of time to enjoy himself.

Inheriting the large estate in Norfolk and those in and around Falmouth gave him a good income from the word go and the years to follow were not wasted.

He admits that within 20 years much of his money had gone - "offered up to a cavalier playboy lifestyle" which in the 1950s and 1960s led to him being dubbed "the brightest blade in Burke's".

This book holds back few secrets. It is a good, racey read, which gives a clear description as to how the aristocracy, rich and famous, lived their lives in the post-war period, going on spending sprees both here and overseas.

Lord Kimberley loved his booze along with his women and he relives at least three decades of his life, telling the reader about getting into bed with almost every attractive woman he met.

To say he "enjoyed every minute" of his life could well be an understatement for that is indeed what he has done. He lost a fortune on good living, gambling - losing up to £10,000 a time - and his sexual encounters and his brides all have their place in the book. It is all here in The Whim of the Wheel with more than a touch of name dropping from page to page and pictures to go with it.

There are a number of references to the Falmouth connection and the town crops up from time to time, not least when his lordship writes of being in need of money and having to look at his estates to raise some more.

He does, of course, still own and receive an income from Arwenack Manor which came to his family by marriage in the 18th century and now comprises flats.

At the time it passed to his family, a Wodehouse married a lady of the Killigrew family who then owned much of Falmouth. When the present Earl's father died it passed to his mother and she in turn made it over to him.

This book is fun but it is also a piece of history. The earl looks back at his life and the reader cannot help thinking that the twinkle in the eye is there at all times. The world in which he grew up has almost disappeared and what a world it must have been.

The Whim of the Wheel is published by Merton Priory Press, Cardiff.