MEMORIES OF A MANCHESTER CHILDHOOD. By Harriet Maria Edgar. A W Edgar Publishers, Bridge House, Stratton Strawless, Norwich NR10 5LP. pound;10
As you grow older, and your elderly relatives pass on, you’ll suddenly realise there’s much about them that you didn’t know and now never will.
How lucky for Alwyn Edgar that his mother left a long, handwritten account of her childhood in Manchester between 1894 and 1904. As now published, with a little infilling by her son, Harriet Edgar (or Downs as she then was) has provided a precious account of what life was like for ordinary people in an industrial town. It’s an interesting read, and a good resource for historical study.
