Elle Cowen - Harry Styles: Photo-Biography

A dream is only a dream until you decide to make it real.

Harry Styles

T hough Harry was born in Evesham, Worcestershire, on 1 February 1994, he was still little more than a babe in arms when the Styles family uprooted and relocated to leafy Holmes Chapel a sleepy hamlet which lies tucked away from view within picturesque east Cheshire countryside some twenty miles south of Manchester.

With both his parents working Des Styles was an operations manager for a leading finance corporation, while Anne worked part-time in an office when Harry was two he began attending the Happy Days Club & Nursery School. Once Harry got over the initial shock of the nurserys unfamiliar surroundings, he enjoyed himself enormously especially when he was allowed to doodle away with food colorants on slices of bread before toasting and eating his efforts.

In September 1998, Harry, or H as he was known within the family, made the switch from nursery to school at the nearby Hermitage Primary. Despite having dutifully dropped him off at the nursery for the past two years, Anne admits to getting all teary-eyed at the thought of her little boy going off to proper school. Harry, however, wriggled free of Annes hand and bounded through into the Reception classroom in his immaculately-pressed uniform of grey trousers, white polo shirt and navy-blue pullover, without so much as a second glance over his shoulder. Anne wanted to let her little boy get on with it in his own way, yet at the same time couldnt quite bring herself to leave him in anothers care. And despite having already gone through the emotional shredder with Harrys older sister Gemma, she nevertheless loitered outside the school for an hour or so in case she was needed.

Happy days is how Harry remembers his time at Hermitage Primary as revealed in One Directions very first book, Dare To Dream. But that doesnt mean to say he didnt suffer at the hands of classroom bullies on occasion. I think the most important thing is to make sure you tell somebody. Make sure you talk to your parents, or let somebody know, he said in a recent interview with the ezine KansasCity.com. Thankfully, Harry wasted little time in enlisting the help of a trusted teacher. When asked if he had a message for those of his fans who were suffering similar torment at the hands of a school bully, Harry urged them to do as he did by speaking out rather than suffering in silence.

Having bested the bullies, Harry was finally free to be himself and, as he was already very close to Gemma, he thought nothing of playing with the girls in the class. I used to be friends with girls as well as boys, he later reflected. I wasnt one of those boys who thought girls were smelly and didnt like them; I was kinda friends with everyone. Harrys circle of friends was expanded further thanks to his pitching in with the school football team. When I started playing for the local team in goal I made friends from other schools as well, which meant I had a lot of mates. Ive always liked being around people and getting to know new people, so Ive always had a wide group of friends.

Like most boys his age, Harry enjoyed watching football as much as he did playing it, and supported Manchester United. Less typically, he was an enthusiastic performer in school plays. I once played Buzz Lightyear in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, he revealed. I know that sounds a bit weird, but basically when the children hid from the Child-Catcher in the toy store they had Buzz and Woody in there, so I got to dress up as Buzz. Another weird role came when he played an Elvis Presley-esque pharaoh in the schools adaptation of Joseph

I wasnt one of those boys who thought girls were smelly and didnt like them; I was kinda friends with everyone.

Harry Styles

And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. When he played Barney a mouse who lives in a church in the following years play, Harry embarked on a Buzz Lightyear-esque raid of his elder sister Gemmas room, and borrowed a pair of her school-uniform grey tights. I had to wear [the] tights and a headband with ears on and sing in front of everyone. I like to think I was a good mouse, he subsequently reflected. And anyone caring to see just how good a mouse Harry was can judge for themselves by going onto YouTube and typing in Harry Styles before he was famous.

Of course, it wasnt only play-acting that gave young Harry a theatrical thrill: The first time I sang properly was in a school production. The rush that I got was something I really enjoyed and wanted to do more of. I always used to love singing. The first song I knew all the words to was Girl Of My Best Friend by Elvis. My dad introduced me to his music, and when I got given a karaoke machine by my granddad, Brian, my cousin, and I recorded a load of Elvis tracks. I wish I still had them so I could have a listen.

On the surface, Des and Anne were a devoted couple with two adorable children, but behind the scenes things werent all that they seemed. For some time now Anne and Des relationship had been getting steadily worse, and having decided to go their separate ways, they sat Harry and Gemma down and explained the situation as best they could. Harry was only seven at the time and, though initially devastated, he quickly came to accept the situation. I remember crying about it when my parents told me they were splitting up, but after that I was alright, he says in Dare To Dream. I guess I didnt really get what was going on properly. I was just sad that my parents wouldnt be together anymore.

I just didnt leave, it was a decision we should split, Des told the Scottish newspaper The Daily Record in the wake of One Directions success. Of course, I missed him [Harry] and Gemma, as you would unless you were some kind of monster. It was tough. I used to feed him every night, change his nappy, put him to bed when he was a baby, and then I was no longer living with them. Im not an estranged dad. It was a tough time to leave them, but these things happen. Harry and Gemma finally moved away from Holmes Chapel two years later, when Anne took over as landlady of a pub over in Northwich, where they were to live for the next five years. While relocating to Northwich didnt prove as taxing or unnerving as the familys move from Evesham, Harry was once again being taken away from everything he knew.

Ive always liked being around people and getting to know new people, so Ive always had a wide group of friends.

Harry Styles

The first time I sang properly was in a school production. The rush that I got was something I really enjoyed and wanted to do more of. I always used to love singing.

Harry Styles

Though Harry remained at Heritage Primary, he was still too young to keep out-of-school contact with his friends. And with Anne having her hands full trying to run a pub, Harry was often left to find ways to amuse himself. This was easier said than done as the pub was so remote, and for a time Harry feared his only friends would be the animals occupying the surrounding fields. The experience of being attacked by a neighbours temperamental goat soon after moving made him wary of wandering off on his own. Thankfully, there was a boy called Reg who lived nearby and was a similar age; the two quickly became firm friends. At weekends and during the school holidays, Harry and Reg would jump on their bikes and go off adventuring together. One adventure Harry never tired of was cycling the two miles or so to the Great Budsworth Ice Cream Farm, as he later revealed: That first summer Reg and I used to go [to the farm] every day. Wed borrow 2 off our mums and cycle up there and get an ice cream. I can remember that so clearly.