The People's Friend Special Magazine

8 September 2021

The People's Friend Special - Issue 214 - Fantastic fiction and features, with 14 uplifting short stories from favourite 'Friend' authors such as Patsy Collins, Katie Ashmore, and Alyson Hilbourne. Dianne Boardman takes a look at the fascinating life of poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Polly Pullar showcases the amazing artwork of her dear friend and illustrator Clare Mackie. Solange Hando crosses Canada by train, Gillian Thornton meets Britain’s Blue Badge guides and Alex Corlett investigates the world winds that are so notorious they have names... plus recipes, nature, travel, fabulous fiction, crafts, and lots more. --- Back in 1869, when the recently widowed Victoria was on the throne and Gladstone was Prime Minister, when Alexander Graham Bell was yet to make the first telephone call and Darwin's "Origin Of Species" had been published just ten years earlier, a brand-new magazine - "The People's Friend" - hit the shelves for the very first time. This is The People's Friend Special. Right from the start, the "Friend's" mission statement was clear: "We intend that fully one half of the 'Friend' shall be devoted to fiction... the 'Friend' being intended for fireside reading, nothing will be admitted into its columns having the slightest tendency to corrupt the morals either of old or young." As the years passed, the "Friend" grew and thrived. Through massive social upheaval, wars, strikes, financial crashes and natural disasters, the magazine continued, dispensing entertainment, instruction, comfort and good cheer to its readers. It became a constant in readers' lives; a true friend to turn to in times of trouble.