Walney Island girl - Katie Percy

Walney Island, which lies just off the Furness Peninsula in south-west Cumbria, is justeleven miles long andfive miles square. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, the island was only sparsely populated until the Jubilee Bridge was built in 1908; before this there was a ferry. Now home to over 13,000 people (mainly concentrated into three towns), Walney still retains the feeling of "a place apart." Born in 1920 and brought up on Walney Island, Katie Percy has recorded her early memories which illustrate the reality of everyday life in pre-war England. Evocative and moving, Katie's memoir describes her struggle as one of seven children in a poor family, including her first job when she left school at14 and being called up to work in Vickers Steelworks for the war effort, along with eloquent recollections of family, friends, and neighbors.