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Category Archives: News
Talking books
It was a privilege and enormous fun – OK, and nerve-racking too, after two years being shut away! – to be invited to Morpeth’s first-ever book festival last month. My mother and I took part in a talk with other … Continue reading
Celia and Pat
Sadly, last year we lost Celia, the Irish member of the Bedpans & Bobby Socks gang. Celia was in her nineties and had been in a nursing home in County Kilkenny – not far from her birthplace in Mullinahone, County … Continue reading
Goodbye, hello
Last year we both lost and found members of the Bedpans & Bobby Socks family. In January 2019 we attended the funeral of Molly’s husband, David, in Glasgow. I remember telling David when I was a little girl that I … Continue reading
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Wandering Girls – the podcast!
The story of Gwenda and Pat – whose wanderings inspired Bedpans & Bobby Socks – is now a podcast! In ‘Off the Page’, I am hoping to make a series of podcasts that bring to life some of the true-life … Continue reading
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How I came to write non-fiction
The following is an edited version of a blog post written for SPCK, the publisher of my newest book, Midwife of Borneo: The True Story of a Geordie Pioneer. I probably wouldn’t have written Midwife of Borneo – or any … Continue reading
Leaving Cleveland (Pat’s photos part 2)
During their last visit to the ISG (International Students’ Group) before setting off on the road trip in April 1958, Gwenda and Pat were presented with a big box to open. Every box had a smaller one inside, and when … Continue reading
Pat’s pictures – part one
When I recently went to stay with Pat to see some shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, it was my first visit since the publication of ‘Bedpans & Bobby Socks’ in 2011, and a chance to finally look through her USA … Continue reading
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Sixty years later …
When I realised that it was exactly 60 years since Gwenda and Pat set forth for the USA, I thought it was a good time for another article, to mark the anniversary. Luckily the Newcastle Chronicle group agreed, and reporter … Continue reading
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Tagged daily express, eve's war, morpeth, newcastle evening chronicle, sheila quigley, sunday sun, the chantry
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Meeting Cleo
I couldn’t come all this way on holiday without making a point of seeing Cleo, the girls’ old friend from their summer working at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, CO, with whom I’ve been corresponding for the past three or … Continue reading
Escape to Alcatraz
Time is flying by. San Francisco was amazing – and the Northumberland-beach weather made us all feel at home. A highlight was our trip to Alcatraz, which seemed to fascinate all members of our party. When the road trippers caught sight … Continue reading
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Tagged arizona, birdman of alcatraz, flagstaff, grand canyon, mesa, phoenix, san francisco
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Bedpans & Bobby Socks 