EASINGWOLD woman Joyce Thackeray has had her first book published, The Woven Basket, an autobiography of her adventures in Africa.

She was born in Egypt where her father was a senior colonial prison officer, and the book portrays the unusual and exciting adventures they had.

She was raised in the foothills of Kilimanjaro until her late teens and married an RAF Regiment officer, John Thackeray. They met while he was assistant superintendent of police in Tanganyika.

Over the next 35 years they enjoyed life on a variety of RAF stations, both at home and abroad, and on retirement from the regiment, her husband took up a post at the Civil Defence Staff College in North Yorkshire.

After he died in 1997 Mrs Thackeray, a mother of three sons and also a grandmother, decided to write down her memories.

The story is delightfully recounted in an atmosphere of nostalgia, interspersed with reminders of the harsher realities of life in another country.

She relates the family's dedication to the delightful setting, the freedom of movement for the young family, and the then-peaceful African lifestyle, shattered by tragic events involving her mother.

On the family's return to this country, she trained as a nurse at the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, before returning to Africa with her husband.

She has met people from all walks of life, from island governors to tribal chiefs, attended royal garden parties and played tennis with nobility - all because she was her father's daughter and later, an officer's wife.

"I didn't write it as a profit-maker; it was more therapy after John's death," she said. "Time does heal, but I still miss him."

What next, now the book is done? "Maybe I'll take myself back to where my life began - back to Africa, perhaps to put my nursing to good use," she said.

* The book is published by Blackie and is available at White Rose Books, Thirsk, and the Book Shop, Northallerton, priced £8.99