Author who brought Belper's industrial history to life

Belper’s industrial history comes to life in tale of one girl’s escape from the mill

Author Sally Wragg pictured in the foreground of Belper East Mill which helped inspire her first novel

Sally Wragg’s love of Derbyshire, and more specifically, of her hometown Belper, have helped her to publish her first novel.

Daisy’s Girl – the tale of Maggie Bridges’ escape from the drudgery of the cotton mill, is a labour of love for Sally.

Her experiences of Belper, past and present, have helped to shape the fictitious Derbyshire mill town of Castle Maine where Maggie and her family live, including her mother Daisy.

Sally has come to writing later in life but has successfully published short stories in The People’s Friend magazine ahead of having her first novel accepted by Robert Hale publishers.

“I always liked reading and writing stories when I was a little girl,” said Sally. “But I suppose once I’d left school at 16, there wasn’t time.”

Instead she started work for the county council in Matlock and Derby for a while.

She then married Richard and had two children, Emma and Nick.

“Once they became more independent and having always felt a gap in my education I took a couple of ‘A’ levels and then did an English degree as an external student at London University,” said Sally.

“It was bliss to have my head stuck in a book for five years. Writing seemed to arise naturally out of this.

“I was lucky enough to have a short story accepted by The People’s Friend magazine and things have developed from there.

I can really recommend them for first-time writers as they’ve provided so much help and guidance along the way.”

Sally, who writes five days a week at her home in Alport Close, submits stories for the magazine regularly, mostly short stories and serials and has just started on her fourth serial.

She said: “Daisy’s Girl started off life as my very first serial and had already appeared in the magazine when I sent it to Robert Hale the publishers. I was really excited when it was accepted.”

The story also revolves around the ruthless industrialist Silas Bradshaw, who rules Castle Maine, and follows on from the First World War in which he lost both his sons.

Maggie Bridges defies her mother, Daisy, to take employment at the hall as nursery maid to Silas Bradshaw’s grandson, John.

Unknown to Maggie, the Bradshaws and Bridges are connected in some way and soon events begin to surface which could blow both families apart.

Sally said: “I was advised to write about people and places I know. So yes, the novel is fictional but in my mind it is Belper, its people and, of course, the cotton mill and mines that used to be around the area.

“I attended Long Row School long enough ago to remember the factory hooter blowing. When the story opens and Maggie is so gleeful to escape the factory at the end of a day’s work, I’m sure there’s a part of me remembering the little girl so keen to get out of school.

“I’ve walked the tow path by the River Derwent and I know where on the Chevin Silas Bradshaw built his house and what stunning views he would have had of Castle Maine.

“Writing helps you discover things about yourself. I’m a Belper girl born and bred but I never realised how deeply rooted I am in Derbyshire.

“Beautiful scenery, so rich in industrial history and yet underrated I think. As a writer, there’s much from which to draw inspiration.

“We should speak up for ourselves more, we have a lot to be proud of.”

Sally is excited about her book being published. She said: “You just need that bit of luck to get going and be prepared to work at it and take the advice that is given to you.

“With this being my first time getting a book published I’m treating it as a learning experience and wondering what is going to happen next.”

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