Ashton under lyne

So here’s a quiz. Which person (female) was born in Ashton under Lyne, is older than me and is famous in UK?

Yes - it’s ‘Amanda Barrie’ - my lovely Alma. Turns out she is 70(!) and a lesbian as well. What a surprise, I really must keep up.

However, suppose I had added that the female person from Ashton under Lyne (soon to be home to the latest IKEA) has a Metallurgy degree and enjoys Caravanning.

That’s a tough one. Well done if you guessed ‘Margaret Beckett’ our rather retiring, stay at home (except for the caravanning) Foreign Secretary.

Told by the Prime Minister of her elevation to one of the four great offices of state, the then Environment Secretary replied with one word: 'F*CK'. Yes - well that’s what I thought as well.

I heard Margaret speak a few years ago at Granada studios. I just managed to stay awake but couldn’t wait to escape and walk down Coronation street to have a pint in the Rovers.

I think her talk was about ‘Girls and Engineering’. For me it was a morning off work plus a free lunch.

So at an age when she could be having fun like me she is doing Tony’s dirty work, losing her (until now) safe reputation, losing her leftish credibility and defending hubby Leo (age 79) who hangs around the Foreign office all day getting under everyone’s feet.

She earns £135000 per year - but how many caravans does she need? Oh and as she was followed by a posse of Special branch security chaps wherever she went, she could hardly be ‘getting away from it all’. Perhaps they all played strip poker round the camp fire.

Geoff Hurst is from Ashton as well.

KAZ