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Life's rich tapestry has provided great poetry – and stories – for a Calderdale octogenarian
KATHLEEN McBurney has never kept a diary. But all the same, the experiences that have coloured her life have been carefully recorded.
And there has been no shortage of them – from personal tragedies to happy family events and from invitations from the Queen to knitting her own stair carpet.
Over the decades all these events have been immortalised thanks to Kathleen's secret "scribblings" but it is only in recent years that she has been persuaded to publish them for others to share.
She saw her first book in print eight years ago and since then she has showed no signs of putting down her pen because now, at 86, she is celebrating her fifth.
"Each time I have finished one book, I have said 'that's it, that'll be the last.' I think perhaps this one will be though – although I'm not quite sure," she says.
"The thing is there is so much to write about, so many things that make me want to reach for pen and paper and just jot down a few notes."
Some of m can be found in Kathleen's latest book, Rhyme and Story Time.
It is a collection of poems and short stories which includes verses in praise of local landmarks such as Halifax Borough Market, Ogden Water, the Piece Hall and Bankfield Museum and its wartime exhibitions.
There are also three poems dedicated to one of Kathleen's most memorable days – a trip to London at the invitation of the Queen to see the unveiling of a statue to the women who worked for victory in the armed forces and on the home front during World War Two.
Kathleen, who lives in Boothtown, Halifax, was 17 when she was called up to Signals Corps, leaving family behind to become Private Kathleen Monks, W215449. She was trained as a telephonist, putting important calls through to Whitehall.
Days before the sculpture was unveiled in July 2005, London was hit by terrorist bombings. But that did not stop the event from going ahead or deter the great-grandmother from making the journey on her own.
"I thought if the Queen is going to stand in Whitehall, then I will," she recalls.
Kathleen was born in Doncaster but has lived in Boothtown for 60 years and has dedicated poems to the joy of living in the area for so long.
She started to write when her two daughters, Christina and Barbara were at school.
Sadly, Barbara, a nursery nurse at Carr Green Junior and Infant School, Rastrick, died last year, aged 56. Recently, the school invited Kathleen to share her poetry with the pupils.
"I had always written little poems and short stories but I used to hide them in a cupboard. They were just for me."
It was her grandson Graham Turner – he designs Kathleen's book covers – who persuaded her to get them published.
Poems She Wrote came out in 2000, followed by Bend The Bough Gently, Little Gems and Poems With Little Gems.
Over the years she has even written poems in praise of the restoration of Akroydon Square – which prompted Calderdale Council to reply, in verse.
"The latest book is a collection of not just recent happenings but those that happened a while ago too, which until now I have just been keeping to one side," she says.
Perhaps the most poignant is Katie, Come Outside, in which she recalls how she was collected from school early one day and told that her father had died in a mining accident. She was 11.
"I grew up quickly then. I had to. That story has been written for a long time but only now did I feel ready to share it," she says.
Joyful events such as seeing her grandchildren married and the birth of her great-grandchildren have also been committed to verse.
And perhaps one of the most entertaining is Kathleen's account of tuning into Woman's Hour to hear someone reading out the knitting pattern for a stair carpet.
"Silly me, I carried on ironing and listening, while hanging on to every instruction and later made notes from memory," says Kathleen, who adds that it took four and a half months to knit.
"It is often said that we all have a story in us to tell and I have certainly found this to be true," she says, adding that perhaps there will be more stories to tell for a sixth book.
Rhyme and Story Time by Kathleen McBurney is available at Fred Wade, Halifax.
Poems She Wrote came out in 2000, followed by Bend The Bough Gently, Little Gems and Poems With Little Gems.
Over the years she has even written poems in praise of the restoration of Akroydon Square – which prompted Calderdale Council to reply, in verse.
“The latest book is a collection of not just recent happenings but those that happened a while ago too, which until now I have just been keeping to one side,” she says.
Perhaps the most poignant is Katie, Come Outside, in which she recalls how she was collected from school early one day and told that her father had died in a mining accident. She was 11.
“I grew up quickly then. I had to. That story has been written for a long time but only now did I feel ready to share it,” she says.
Joyful events such as seeing her grandchildren married and the birth of her great-grandchildren have also been committed to verse.
And perhaps one of the most entertaining is Kathleen’s account of tuning into Woman's Hour to hear someone reading out the knitting pattern for a stair carpet.
“Silly me, I carried on ironing and listening, while hanging on to every instruction and later made notes from memory,” says Kathleen, who adds that it took four and a half months to knit.
“It is often said that we all have a story in us to tell and I have certainly found this to be true,” she says, adding that per- haps there will be more stories to tell for a sixth book.
l Rhyme and Story Time by Kathleen McBurney is available at Fred Wade, Halifax.
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