Mary Mae Lewis

EXCERPT: "THIS week, we’re in Tun­stall to recall a 1950s child­hood. I’ve spent some time recently talk­ing to folk about the ele­ments of their his­tory that can­not gen­er­ally be described as nos­tal­gic – in other words, those aspects of their past that are alto­gether darker. Never mind mawk­ish, rose-tinted, dewy-eyed accounts of yes­teryear. For some people, grow­ing up in the Pot­ter­ies of old was a chal­lenge. Rites of pas­sage? Far more than that. Some chil­dren suffered ordeals that shaped their per­son­al­ity. Are we refer­ring to long-term dam­age here, or did dis­quiet­ing exper­i­ences help to form char­ac­ter? Local author Mary Mae Lewis, of Abbey Hulton, gives an hon­est account of her own troubles and tri­umphs in grow­ing up in the 50s..."