Manchester Pride

'Polly is made of stern stuff. . . and the tale of her courage and grit against the backdrop of a Northern city in the grip of depression makes for a powerful narrative.'
Newcastle Evening Chronicle

'Freda Lightfoot's new novel is a tale of a courageous young woman determined to make a better life for herself and her family.'
Lancashire Life 

Polly Pride feels luckier than many who live in the poor Ancoats area of Manchester. She has a loving husband, two healthy children, a place of their own and a regular wage. But it is the late 1920’s, unrest is in the air, employers are putting on the squeeze and when Matthew loses his job, Polly’s life is thrown into turmoil.

With no money coming in, Polly decides that only drastic action can keep the family from starvation and in a desperate gamble she sells all the family goods and chattels and buys a handcart from which she sells second-hand rugs and carpets. But struggling to deal with poverty and her husband’s hurt pride are only the start of her problems, for when tragedy strikes Polly has to fight the bigotry of a sour brother-in-law to keep herself and her family from falling apart.

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Polly's War

the sequel to Manchester Pride

Find out what happened to Polly Pride after the war.

'A heart-wrenching family story that keeps you turning the pages as the drama unfolds...gripping to the end.'
Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph

'clearly knows her Manchester well'
Historical Novel Society

World War II may be over but Polly Pride feels as though the fighting has moved to her own home.  Her son, Benny, is mixed up with some very shady characters and trying to pull the wool over his mothers eyes about it.  Daughter Lucy is carrying on with a fancy man behind her husband's back and leaving her children to run riot.  Meanwhile, Polly's beloved husband Charlie is battling ill-health and doesn't want her interfering.

Polly sees she risks losing all she’s worked so hard to achieve, but refuses to go back to Ancoats and a life of grinding poverty. And she won’t stand by and watch her family tear itself to pieces.  

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The Favourite Child

'Compelling and Fascinating'
Middlesborough Evening Gazette

Isabella Ashton has always been her father's favourite, but when she becomes involved with the new Birth Control Movement, Simeon is scandalised.  Running a family planning clinic in Salford's mean streets is challenging but rewarding work, and Bella is grateful for the help of Violet Howarth a big, generous-hearted woman who takes her in.  Violet's son, Dan, also supports her mission, and comradeship quickly turns to love.  But Bella is involved with handsome ne'er-do-well Billy Quinn, leader of an illegal betting ring.  His jealousy and possessiveness bring matters to a head and Bella finds everything she has worked for at risk, and herself in mortal danger. . .

This book is dedicated to the memory of all the women who were pioneers in the work of birth control and improvements in women’s health care. In particular to Charis Frankenburg who, together with Mary Stocks,  opened the real Salford and District Mothers Clinic for Birth Control in 1926.

The clinic depicted in this story bears some similarities in its work and aims to the original, but is entirely fictitious, as are the characters.  Salford is as real as I can make it.   I would also like to acknowledge the unstinting help of the Librarians at the Manchester Central Library who always seem to know what I am looking for and how to find it.

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Ruby McBride

‘An inspiring novel about accepting change and bravely facing the future.’
The Daily Telegraph

‘Charming and exciting.  A lovely story by an author with an extraordinary feeling in her writing.’
Bangor Chronicle  

The grand opening of the Manchester Ship Canal is a big day for Ruby McBride and her young sister and brother. Its glories fade into insignificance however when their mother, Molly McBride, is forced to entrust her beloved children to Ignatius House and the not-so-tender care of the nuns.  Ruby, a rebel at heart, is always on the wrong side of authority. Her chief concern is to keep her promise to take care of Pearl and Billy but when she is sixteen, the Board of Guardians force her into marriage and she has to abandon her siblings, vowing she will reunite the family when she can.

Convinced that her new husband is a conman, life on the barge is not at all what she expects. Ruby is furious at being robbed of the chance to be with her childhood sweetheart, Kit Jarvis, so resists Bart's advances as long as possible. Only when Kit comes back into her life and jealousy between the two men cause events to run out of control, does Ruby realise which one she truly loves. But it takes the Great War for her to fulfil that childhood promise and not in the expected way.

The Idea
Today the Manchester Ship Canal is a fashionable dockland area developed for leisure, commerce and housing. Affectionately known as the 'Big Ditch', it was formally opened by Queen Victoria in May 1894. Manchester was a fast growing city not only because of Lancashire cotton but the city was also strong on engineering and manufacture.  Being landlocked, all goods had to be transported by road or rail to Liverpool docks in order to be exported, thus reducing profitability. The Canal brought shipping right into the heart of the city as well as employment not only to industry in general but also to the owners of narrow boats and barges who worked long hours in the canal basin, loading and carrying goods through the network of canals.  

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Dancing on Deansgate

                            

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Watch For The Talleyman

Where there's muck there's brass

Featuring a feisty, determined heroine, this is a rattling good read!  www.bol.com  

Dolly Tomkins knows what it's like to live hand to mouth.  In the mean streets of 1920s Salford, the only one making a decent living is the talleyman - and Nifty Jack has a moneybag where his heart should be.  Dolly's mam is in hock up to her ears, but when Nifty offers to wipe the slate clean in return for Dolly's favours, the girl just can't bring herself to do it.

Instead, she takes him on at his own game, and in the process is in danger of losing the love of her life

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