WOULD you look at the man!” Maggie said. She wasn’t much to look at herself, being as black as sin from the coal dust. She’d just finished a shift at the colliery screens, picking lumps of coal out of

Whingeing about the appalling state of things has become the national pastime. And for good reason. A lot has gone wrong in living memory. Nothing works well – if it works at all. You pull a lever and

WHAT was the man thinking of when he did his shopping? Jessie thought. Two huge, brown paper parcels spilled food on to the kitchen table. Enough to feed a family for a fortnight at least. Slices of t

DO you think Ellen would enjoy living here?” Scott asked his wife dubiously. “I don’t know. But we have to make the offer,” Hannah replied. Ellen, Scott’s older sister, was a sharp-tongued woman, quic

Welcome to the Charles Jessop Theatre.” Lysette nervously eyed the group of drama students gathered in the foyer. She didn’t feel ready to lead her first guided tour. She’d only been at the theatre a

Most people are glued to their phones these days, but my sister won’t go anywhere without her notebook. She bought it after we went on a writing course, and she took it out of her bag as soon as I par