Pamela Meyrick: ‘Points of Pain’

Points of Pain by Pamela Meyrick

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Pamela Meyrick, the Rochdale Observer’s first ever female reporter, has had her first novel published 19 years after her death – by her daughter.

Pamela wrote ‘Points of Pain’ in the 1980s and 1990s but despite interest from publishers, the book was never edited to the required standard before she died in 1997, aged 70.

Daughter Nicola, 59, inherited the manuscript but has only finished off her mum’s work in the last couple of years, as she explained: “The book was sat on my shelf for years whilst I was working as a producer and editor at the BBC.

“When I left last year, I decided it was time for the book to see the light of day. So I spent months editing and updating it for publication on Amazon and it was finally published a few weeks ago.

“I wrote a new prologue to bring it up to date and made quite a few cuts, but I think this is the book she wanted it to be.”

The fictional novel, which is also planned to be sold in print, tells the story of the South Manchester-born Clare Brady and her career, conflict with her parents, struggles with her Catholic faith and her love for two very different men.

Pamela, maiden name Schofield, covered local courts and met Gracie Fields as part of her work for the Rochdale Observer, where she began working in 1945 for a three-year spell, and also had her own column titled ‘A Woman Looks Around, by Pam’.

She later worked on a woman’s magazine in London before returning to Rochdale, where she became Chairwoman of the Rochdale Marriage Guidance Council. She and husband Ken moved to North Wales in 1988 before settling in Cheadle Hulme.

Nicola followed in her mother’s footsteps by also spending three years at the Rochdale Observer between 1975 and 1978, and she went on to work for Piccadilly Radio and Granada Reports before becoming the Head of Radio Current Affairs for the BBC, also in London.