Pam Ayres - The Works: The Classic Collection

Product Information

With poems such as My Mother Was Right About You, Geriatric Juliet, Poor Old Father Christmas, and The Hat From Hell, blending Pam’s characteristically sharp wit with her warm, comic observations on everyday life, this hilariously funny collection is a must-have for seasoned fans and first time listeners alike. It also includes some of Pam’s more reflective poems including the title poem, Down the Line, which she wrote for the 100th Anniversary of the end of the First World War. 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. Pam’s autobiography, The Necessary Aptitude, was the UK’s bestselling female autobiography of 2011. Young, Kirsty (5 August 2018). "Pam Ayres". Desert Island Discs. (from 11m40s on): Bob Dylan, I discovered him when I was 17 years old and for the first time in my life I felt it was music and songwriting that was relevant to me.... I felt as though he was talking to me, we were of similar age; and also, because I wanted to be a writer but I didn't know how to express it. He made me feel that I wanted to write my own things. I didn't ever want to write like Bob Dylan, I wanted to write my own things, and he accentuated that feeling. In March 2021 a new edition of Pam’s book, With These Hands, was re-issued by Ebury Press/Penguin Books. First published in 1997, this book includes many of Pam’s most popular earlier poems including Yes I’ll Marry You My Dear, Will I Have To Be Sexy at Sixty, The Wonderbra, and How Can That Be My Baby?

Oliver, Gill (26 September 2011). "Interview with Pam Ayres". Oxford Mail . Retrieved 13 April 2022. Pam Ayres' early childhood in Stanford in the Vale was idyllic in many ways, and typical of that experienced by a great swathe of children born in rural areas in the immediate post-war years. Though her parents' generation was harrowed by war, better times were coming. Everything the family needed was within walking distance in the village, and life with four older brothers and a sister in their crowded council house was exceedingly lively. I met my husband on broadway... Lewisham Broadway' | lady.co.uk". lady.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021 . Retrieved 25 July 2021. Pam Ayres: Ayres and graces". The Independent. 1 March 2008. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021 . Retrieved 25 July 2021.Pam Ayres: In Her Own Words (Acorn Media, March 2006); recorded live at The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham in September 2005 In 2009, she made her first appearance on the BBC TV programme, QI. In 2011 she said in a Daily Telegraph magazine interview that she was "about to go on my 14th tour of Australia". The Magazine Monitor". 8 September 2006. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009 . Retrieved 16 August 2021– via news.bbc.co.uk. a b c Plomley, Roy (29 September 1979). "Pam Ayres". Desert Island Discs. BBC . Retrieved 13 April 2022. (from 12m0s on) I settled down to live in Witney, I had a flat there, a little flat. 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. And then I started to write poems, because I wanted to stand up and do something, and my singing voice is not that hot. So I had a few poems, and I wrote a few more, and I used to stand up and recite those in the folk club, and as a result of that, anybody who was organising something charitable in the area tended to say "Would you come along too, Pam, and give us one of your famous poems?" And I had a T-shirt with 'Famous Broadcasting Personality' written across the front, so I used to put my FBP T on and recite some poems, and as a result of these charitable dos, a friend had a friend at Radio Oxford, and this friend said "Would you like me to suggest you for Radio Oxford?" & I said "Yes, please." In June 2022, at the grand age of 75, Pam was delighted to appear in the Glastonbury Festival. Also in June, as part of filming for her Channel 5 TV series about the Cotswolds, Pam had the opportunity to interview HRH The Prince of Wales, now King Charles, at his Highgrove country home to talk about his garden, and their shared love of wildlife and natural history. The interview featured in Pam’s second TV series for Channel 5, The Cotswolds & Beyond, which was originally broadcast in Autumn 2022.

BBC Radio 4 - Ayres on the Air". BBC. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021 . Retrieved 16 August 2021. Rees, Jasper (7 October 2022). "Pam Ayres gets a royal treat – a tour of Highgrove from King Charles himself". The Telegraph. In September 2021, her TV series The Cotswolds with Pam Ayres premiered on Channel 5. Each episode features a special guest and ends with Pam reciting a short, uplifting verse summing up her adventures. 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. [25] Influence [ edit ] In her late teens, Pam grew dissatisfied with her life as a Civil Service clerk with only the local 'hop' for scintillating excitement. Having seen three of her brothers called up for National Service and sent off to exciting destinations, Pam felt desperate for travel and adventure. She joined the WRAF and soon found herself in the Far East. There she began to write in earnest, and develop the unique talent that would make her one of Britain's favourite comics...

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. [15] Career [ edit ] In September 2006, the BBC's Magazine Monitor's "10 Things...", claimed, though without providing details, to have learnt that week ( 1-8 Sep) that Bob Dylan inspired Ayres to write poetry. [11] 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... I certainly loved him." [14] In 2007, Ayres acted in a radio sitcom, Potting On for Radio 4, co-starring Geoffrey Whitehead. [19] She wrote and recorded six series of her Radio 4 programme Ayres on the Air, the latest of which was broadcast in 2018. [18] [20]