Alice Barry - Who the Hell is Alice? My Story--Alice Barry

T he year I was born, 1946, was a good year for film and television. Great Expectations, starring John Mills and Jean Simmons was one of the biggest grossing films of the year, as was A Night in Casablanca starring the Marx Brothers. Felicity Kendal and Joanna Lumley were also born in that year and some would say my destiny was already subtly being carved out from the day I reared my head in the oh-so pleasant mill town of Burnley, in the county of Lancashire.

Im so very proud of my hometown and will defend it until the end of time. I love my roots and at one time swore I would never move away; its a lovely place.

With my career Ive travelled a lot, to London in particular as there is always promotions to be filmed people to meet and contracts to be signed, and it all seems to take place in our capital city. I like London and I like to have a little wander around the streets when Im down in the big city the West End shops, Covent Garden and Soho but its a simple fact that no one ever makes the effort to speak to you. Its a huge effort to pull the latest weather report from the girl who has just served you with your coffee in Starbucks.

In Lancashire, Burnley in particular, a stranger will speak to you at the drop of a hat and the young lady who has served your hot beverage in Rhode Island Coffee will not only present the next seven days weather and the Irish Sea shipping forecasts but will also take time out to tell you whos been in the shop that day and who will be in later on. Shell gossip about the latest rumours and always bid you goodbye as you leave.

I did of course move from Burnley to Blackpool in 2009, helping to create the success story that is Barrys Hotel. But I swear the day I moved I left a piece of my heart in Burnley. I take comfort that Blackpool and Burnley are only 30 miles apart and I get back to my roots fairly often to take a sentimental fix of my home town.

A good Lancashire lass thats me. I was also a good Catholic girl, or at least thats what my mother kept telling me. I have fond memories of my childhood, particularly the really young years at home before I went to school. Mam, Winifred, was a weaver at one of the big Burnley mills and Dad, Joseph, was a driver for the National Coal Board. Those were the days when you could leave your door open and not get robbed. It was a happy upbringing and there was more than enough love in the house. When I was two my brother Joe came along and aged five, just before I went to school, Mam presented another brother for me, little Tommy.

As the eldest I sometimes helped out, looking after them. Our Mam was perfect, hardworking and oozing affection. What on earth possessed her to send me to school and spoil everything? I was so proud the first day she sent me off out the door, down the road to St Mary Magdalenes School, Haslam Street in Burnley.

Mam had told me how special a Catholic school was and how I was so very lucky to have the special status the Holy Father had given me in life. Its quite ironic really because Mam was not raised a Catholic and only converted when she and my father knew that they were destined to get married. Mam had no issues with the Catholic faith and took on the new role as a Catholic mother and parent with gusto. She was 100% committed to the cause and I even remember in later life when she was on her deathbed how she begged my father to make sure that she wouldnt be buried in the Protestant section of the cemetery in Burnley. She adored my father and was paranoid that she wouldnt be laid to rest with him, with her in the Protestant bit and him in the Catholic section 500 yards away.

My parents always treated me as if I was a very special person and, well, being born a Catholic girl just reaffirmed my opinion that yes, Alice Blackledge was special. Alice Blackledge, the good Catholic girl, was put on Gods wonderful earth for a purpose. Mam had a special gift for making you feel that way and as I skipped into the school-yard in my uniform I was like someone possessed, a child on a mission to learn all about life, God, the wonderful planet, and of course the Holy Bible. I wanted to learn to write and to read every book in the world. This was the first day of my life as far as I was concerned and while other little girls stood at the school gate with a little trepidation, some nervous and some even crying in their mothers arms, I ran through into the schoolyard as if to say bring it on, world!

I expected to see a few nuns present that day in the schoolyard, smiling sweetly in full battle dress with the wimple and pretty fresh unblemished faces peeking out from beneath their religious clothing; but there wasnt and I remember being rather disappointed. Nuns were certainly something to look up to and for those first few weeks I aspired to be one of them. Not to worry, I thought, they were probably inside preparing for class. This was going to be great just what I needed to stimulate my young mind. When the bell rang I raced into school and into my first class. I recall more disappointment meeting my first teacher because she wasnt a nun either and just wore normal clothes. I didnt know at the time but there were no nuns in Mary Magdalene School. We had priests Father Murphy and Father Corker but they didnt teach and were just sort of there to keep you on the straight and narrow. At least thats why I think they were there.

The priests made an occasional appearance throughout that first day and I recall at lunchtime Father Corker said a prayer before and after our lunch. I thought this was great: so many people watching over me praying for us at the drop of a hat and even the school dinners were good too. Wasnt I such a lucky girl to be born a Catholic?

Little did I know at the time but religion or rather the religion which you are brought up is merely an accident of birth. The chances are if you are born in the Shankhill in Belfast you would likely be a protestant, a remote mountain village in Afghanistan, a Muslim, and theres a fair likelihood youll be Jewish if you happen to be born in the Neve Tzedek district of Tel Aviv. This was not something I was taught at school, however.