Third Pawfull of Cat Tales

Mrs Ribby's Shop

The above photo is from street art found in the city centre - but more interesting than a snap of me!

Peter Brighouse, unlike the ageing juvenile Binky Huckaback (ref: BBC Radio ‘Beyond Our Ken’), is simply … ageing! Born into a family on Parsonage Road, Withington, Manchester, at a time when traffic calming schemes were but an ephemeral fleeting thought in the local authority’s eye. Formative years on Old Lansdowne Road, attending Cavendish Road primary followed by Chorlton Grammar School. No.35 or Buxton Mount as it is still called, a fine 5 bed Victorian Semi, was bought by Dad for £900 c1954. For a short time, we kept hens on the north side of Lapwing Lane. On to an interesting course on Zoology at the university of Nottingham, graduating in 1968. Followed by 41 years in business admin computing, since Sir David Attenborough had already commandeered the top spot in natural history presentation. Cats have figured continually in Peter’s life, the first four with my sister during schooldays. A few Guinea Pigs figured too but any dogs only belonged to friends or neighbours. After marriage, cats 5 to 12 have figured along with occasional Gerbils, a Guinea Pig and a Rabbit. As youngsters, my wife and I had always enjoyed the authors Beatrix Potter, Alison Uttley and suchlike and with children of our own could add Judith Kerr and Graham Oakley to the top choices. When our daughter Louisa was about 2, I thought I should write a cat story of my own for her. This went down well with our 8 year old son, so I wrote another and decided bravely to attempt illustrating them. My special interests in jazz from the Great American Songbook, gardening, natural history and BBC comedy programmes from the 1950’s and 1960’s interwoven with the laid-back personalities of cats have formed the basis and themes of my cat tales.