Winifred Foley
Encyclopedia
Winifred Mary Foley was an English writer.
, although it also includes her experiences as an adolescent domestic servant in London and elsewhere, up to the point where she meets her future husband, Sydney (died 1998), at an anti-Fascist rally in 1936.
The book has been compared with Laurie Lee
's Cider with Rosie
, but there are some differences, e.g. Foley makes clear the grinding poverty of her childhood. Its success was somewhat disconcerting for her: "I think I come out of it as a very ordinary little girl, with all the usual faults," she said. "I wouldn't have been surprised, after it had been published, if decent people hadn't wanted to know me." Her immediate family were delighted with the book, but "the honesty of her descriptions, which included stories of fleas in the bed and poor sanitation, shamed some parts of her family."
A Child in the Forest was serialised on BBC
radio's Woman's Hour
in 1973. One chapter about a job as a domestic servant was dramatised as a TV programme, Abide With Me in 1977. The success of the book allowed the Foleys to move from Huntley
and buy a house at Cliffords Mesne
, near Newent
, Gloucestershire. According to her eldest son Chris, Winifred Foley "never lost her love of the Forest, even when she moved. My mother had a very political mind and talked about a lot of things, but she never talked about anything with more affection than her days in the Forest." A documentary on her life, Winifred Foley – A Child from the Forest, was broadcast on British ITV in 2001.
Subsequent works of reminiscences included No Pipe Dreams for Father, Back to the Forest and In and Out of the Forest. She also had some romantic fiction published. Writing fiction in her old age, she said, was "the only thing that keeps me going." She moved to Cheltenham
after her husband died.
funeral was held at Cheltenham Crematorium. One of the pieces of music chosen was a recording of I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles sung by the children of Pillowell
County Primary School, which had been the signature tune of the 1973 BBC serialization. She was survived by three sons and by a daughter. Full Hearts... was serialised in the Daily Mail and went on to reach The Times Top 10 bestseller list in the UK.
There is a bench dedicated to her memory and that of her husband on the top of May Hill
, a Forest of Dean beauty spot not far from her old home in Cliffords Mesne.
Forest life
Winifred Foley's best known work was the autobiographical A Child in the Forest (1974), mainly an account of her childhood in the Forest of DeanForest of Dean
The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. The forest is a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east.The...
, although it also includes her experiences as an adolescent domestic servant in London and elsewhere, up to the point where she meets her future husband, Sydney (died 1998), at an anti-Fascist rally in 1936.
The book has been compared with Laurie Lee
Laurie Lee
Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE was an English poet, novelist, and screenwriter, raised in the village of Slad, and went to Marling School, Gloucestershire. His most famous work was an autobiographical trilogy which consisted of Cider with Rosie , As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and...
's Cider with Rosie
Cider with Rosie
Cider with Rosie is a 1959 book by Laurie Lee . It is the first book of a trilogy that continues with As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and A Moment of War...
, but there are some differences, e.g. Foley makes clear the grinding poverty of her childhood. Its success was somewhat disconcerting for her: "I think I come out of it as a very ordinary little girl, with all the usual faults," she said. "I wouldn't have been surprised, after it had been published, if decent people hadn't wanted to know me." Her immediate family were delighted with the book, but "the honesty of her descriptions, which included stories of fleas in the bed and poor sanitation, shamed some parts of her family."
A Child in the Forest was serialised on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio's Woman's Hour
Woman's Hour
Woman's Hour is a radio magazine programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom.-History:Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by Alan Ivimey the programme was first broadcast on 7 October 1946 on the BBC's Light Programme . It was transferred to its current home in 1973...
in 1973. One chapter about a job as a domestic servant was dramatised as a TV programme, Abide With Me in 1977. The success of the book allowed the Foleys to move from Huntley
Huntley, Gloucestershire
Huntley, Gloucestershire, is a village on the A40 located seven miles west ofGloucester in the north of the Forest of Dean.- History :Huntley is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Huntelei....
and buy a house at Cliffords Mesne
Cliffords Mesne
Cliffords Mesne is a village in Gloucestershire, two miles south-west of the nearest town of Newent. It was the home of author Winifred Foley from the mid-1970s, after the success of her first book of reminiscences, A Child in the Forest.-Facilities:...
, near Newent
Newent
Newent is a small market town about 8 miles north west of Gloucester City, on the northern edge of the Forest of Dean, and lying within the Forest of Dean Local Authority District. Its population at the 2001 census was 5,073...
, Gloucestershire. According to her eldest son Chris, Winifred Foley "never lost her love of the Forest, even when she moved. My mother had a very political mind and talked about a lot of things, but she never talked about anything with more affection than her days in the Forest." A documentary on her life, Winifred Foley – A Child from the Forest, was broadcast on British ITV in 2001.
Subsequent works of reminiscences included No Pipe Dreams for Father, Back to the Forest and In and Out of the Forest. She also had some romantic fiction published. Writing fiction in her old age, she said, was "the only thing that keeps me going." She moved to Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
after her husband died.
Remembered
Winifred Foley died on 21 March 2009, some three days before her original book was re-released under the new title Full Hearts And Empty Bellies, having reportedly sold over 500,000 copies by that time. The HumanistHumanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
funeral was held at Cheltenham Crematorium. One of the pieces of music chosen was a recording of I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles sung by the children of Pillowell
Pillowell
-Description:Pillowell sits on the south-eastern edge of the Forest of Dean. Its coordinates are 51.75° N 02.55° W. It is located 0.6 miles to the east of Whitecroft and 0.6 miles to west of Yorkley, and was established as a mining village....
County Primary School, which had been the signature tune of the 1973 BBC serialization. She was survived by three sons and by a daughter. Full Hearts... was serialised in the Daily Mail and went on to reach The Times Top 10 bestseller list in the UK.
There is a bench dedicated to her memory and that of her husband on the top of May Hill
May Hill
May Hill is a hill between Gloucester and Ross-on-Wye, whose summit is on the western edge of Gloucestershire, though its northern slopes are in Herefordshire....
, a Forest of Dean beauty spot not far from her old home in Cliffords Mesne.
Reminiscences
- A Child in the Forest (London: BBC, 1974) ISBN 0563126051; reissued 1977, 1978, 1985, 1986, 1991, and (as Full Hearts and Empty Bellies) 2009
- No Pipe Dreams for Father (Coleford: The Forest Bookshop, 1977) ISBN 0950592609
- Back to the Forest (London: Macdonald, 1981) ISBN 0354043544; reissued 1982
- The Forest Trilogy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992, reissue of previous three) ISBN 0192830767
- In and Out of the Forest (London: Century, 1984) ISBN 0712603654; reissued 1992)
- Great Aunt Lizzie (Oxford: Isis, 2002) ISBN 0753198169
- Shiny Pennies and Grubby Pinafores (London: Abacus, 2010) ISBN 9780349122939
Fiction
- Village Fates (Oxford: Isis, 2000) ISBN 075316342X
- Prejudice and Pride (Oxford: Isis, 2005) ISBN 0753172240
- To Kill for Love (Oxford: Isis, 2006) ISBN 0753176556
- Two Men and a Maiden (Oxford: Isis, 2007) ISBN 0753179717