Pam Ayres - The Works: The Classic Collection

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More recently Ayres has become a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4, appearing in programmes such as Just a Minute, Say the Word, That Reminds Me, and six series of her own show, Ayres on the Air, a radio show of her poetry and sketches. And then I started to go the local folk club, which is where I used to listen to all this wonderful folk music I'm so keen on. Whether she's reminiscing about the spartan conditions on a caravan holiday in the fifties, or describing her less-than-spectacular prowess in a nineties' gym, her wonderfully accurate wit is always a delight. The Chalke History Festival announces a new name, new look, and tons for history buffs to get their teeth into! Pam performs her solo stage show throughout the UK, and has toured Australia and New Zealand regularly.

Oliver the otter is happy enough living alone, swimming or scampering along the twisty-rooted waterways. Many of her poems are in school textbooks around the world including the UK, USA, China, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, South Africa, Ireland and Singapore. She is a patron of the British Hen Welfare Trust, Cheltenham Animal Shelter and Oak and Furrows Wildlife Rescue Centre. The Works' contains 120 of Pam Ayres' best-known poems from the seventies and eighties, including The Battery Hen, Please Will You Take Your Children Home Before I Do Them In, Sling Another Chair Leg On The Fire, Mother and, of course, Oh, I Wish I'd. Pam was awarded the MBE in 2004 for services to literature and entertainment, and lives in the Cotswolds.

Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. With poems such as 'My Mother Was Right About You', 'Geriatric Juliet', 'Poor Old Father Christmas', and 'The Hat From Hell', this hilariously funny collection is a must-have for seasoned fans and first time listeners alike. It was November 1975 when Pam made the first of her appearances on the ITV talent show, the 'Pop Idol' of its day, Opportunity Knocks, and this proved to be the start of an incredible career for a unique entertainer. She published the collection herself, long before she became well known through tv appearances, in a very small print run, and a signed copy is quite scarce.

With her natural warmth and wit she builds up a rapport with the audience that guarantees an evening of fun and laughter. In a 2006 interview (aired on Radio New Zealand's Nine To Noon programme, 24 October 2006), she stated that, at the age of twelve, she enjoyed writing parodies of the Lonnie Donegan songs popular at that time. They live in Cirencester, Gloucestershire [27] and keep rare breeds of cattle, as well as sheep, pigs, chickens, and guinea fowl.Pam Ayres, one of Britain's best-loved entertainers, personally presents this audiobook which brings together two of her solo stage shows with live audiences. On radio she is a regular on Just A Minute, has made six series of her own Ayres On The Air and has appeared twice on the legendary Desert Island Discs. Sling Another Chair Leg on the Fire, Mother' and, of course, 'Oh, I Wish I'd Looked After Me Teeth'. With nature details interwoven throughout the story, and an information page at the end, including fun facts about otters. It traces her life and career from growing as the youngest of six children in a council house in the Vale of the White Horse, Berkshire, her time in the Women's Royal Air Force and the string of events that led to Opportunity Knocks.

Emerging from a career in military intelligence to find fame on the television talent show Opportunity Knocks, Ayres’ deceptively simple approach has seen her verse tackle life in all its pathos and glory. She soon left and signed up for the Women's Royal Air Force, where she trained as a Plotter Air Photographer, working at JARIC in a drawing office dealing with operational maps. From 1996, Ayres has appeared frequently on BBC Radio: from 1996 until 1999 Ayres presented a two-hour music and chat show every Sunday afternoon on BBC Radio 2; this was followed by two series of Pam Ayres's Open Road, in which she visited various parts of the United Kingdom, interviewing people with interesting stories to tell about their lives and local areas.However, although Ayres has often spoken of her admiration of Dylan, [12] [13] in a 2015 interview, she stated that "I don't know that he [Dylan] ever was the inspiration to start writing poetry. Drawing on regional traditions and heritage, celebrate the timeless appeal of activities from cricket matches to beachcombing classic cars and Sunday drives. In 2022, the programme was recommissioned as The Cotswolds and Beyond with Pam Ayres, [22] as the programme expanded its remit to have Ayres visit the market town of Pershore to meet Toyah Willcox, [23] [24] as well as going to the Henley Regatta with Steve Redgrave, the Dean Forest Railway and the gardens at Highgrove, where she met the then Prince of Wales.