The People's Friend Magazine

17 November 2021

The People's Friend - Issue 7904 - Fabulous fiction with seven feel-good short stories, including 'The Gatekeeper's Daughter', an atmospheric 1860s drama by Valerie Bowes, and Alison Carter’s movie-inspired romance set in New York, 'Empire State Of Mind'. Willie Shand heads to the Highlands and is enchanted by waterfalls and wildlife at Glen Orchy, Charity Project Pony is proving the perfect therapy for our NHS heroes, author Rita Bradshaw talks about her new book, and prize-winning teacher Andria Zafirakou aims to inspire future generations... Plus more stories, serials, health, gardening, knitting, recipes, travel, and much more inside. --- 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. 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.