ST ANNES scribe Laurinea D'Arcy will be celebrating her 90th birthday in an amazing way - she is having her first book published.

Laurinea, now of Sefton Court, St Annes, was born in Rossendale in 1909 and is looking forward to the publication of Deep Are The Roots, which contains a wealth of historical detail and is based on the people, events and stories of her Lancashire childhood.

Despite having had a stroke recently and suffering from arthritis in her spine, Laurinea says her writing remains fairly unaffected.

But she told the Citizen: "I sometimes have difficulty hearing words in the right order. After this book is published I am hoping to publish the follow-up, which will probably be called Between Two Wars."

Deep Are The Roots closely reflects her own life experiences, including the period of the First World War and the years leading up to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

It is the story of young Laurie growing up in a Northern industrial town during the harsh early years of the 19thh century along with the story of her parents, Liz and Bert and is in fact dedicated to her late father, Herbert Hargreaves, who died as a result of injuries sustained on Flanders Fields.

Busy Laurinea has had many occupations, including being a mill worker, a nurse and running St Annes Riding School. She is now a widow and derives much pleasure from her own children, nine grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.

Deep Are The Roots will be published on August 10. Copies, priced £5.95 each (including postage and packing), are available from Laurinea's son Brian at 11 Donnington Road, Sheffield, S2 2RF. Cheques should be made payable to B. D'Arcy.

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