The People's Friend Magazine

19 January 2022

The People's Friend - Issue 7911 - Unmissable fiction with seven short stories, including 'Daydream Believer', a lighthearted romantic comedy by Lydia Jones, and Penny Alexander’s dramatic new serial, 'Return To Rosecot', set in 1890s Northamptonshire. Neil McAllister visits the stunning Lincolnshire town of Stamford, Jessica Knowles chats about her DogVentures with her four-legged friend, Lorna Cowan follows in the footsteps of Scotland’s famous bard, Robert Burns, photographer Ola Maddams finds her night-time garden is bustling with life, and Douglas McPherson celebrates the music of the Everly Brothers... 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.