The People's Friend Magazine

16 February 2022

The People's Friend - Issue 7915 - Unmissable fiction with seven short stories, including Alison Carter’s inspiring wartime drama, 'Don't Stop Believing', and 'The Oak Tree Mystery', our intriguing new mystery serial by Val Bonsall. Neil McAllister is charmed by the seaside town of Southport, we learn how music is helping to connect care home residents with the wider community, go behind the lens with wildlife film-maker Gordon Buchanan, we talk to author Annie Murray about her latest book, and Bill Gibb chats to Tom Williams, founder of the charity Legs4Africa... 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.