After her years in domestic service, Winifred Foley married and started a family. But, while scraping a living as a charwoman in a rundown north London tenement, she continued to long for her home in the Forest of Dean and the cherished relatives she had left behind. Determined to give their children the rural upbringing she had enjoyed, the young couple moved to an isolated, crumbling cottage not far from the Forest. But even in the 1950s they lacked heating or running water, and money was tight. Food was begged, borrowed or home-grown, and their clothes were hand-me-downs. It was a primitive life of hard work on the land, struggling to make ends meet, and finding strength in the embrace of a loving family.

* A wonderful, heart-warming account of a bygone way of life in rural England in the 1950s

About the Author
Born in 1914, Winifred Foley grew up in the Forest of Dean. She died in March 2009.


Book Information
ISBN 9780349122939
Author Winifred Foley
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Abacus
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 214g
Dimensions(mm) 194mm * 128mm * 19mm