Inspired by a treasure trove of writings, local councillor Chris Foote has told his late mother's life story. He talks to Women's Editor Sarah Foster about her influence on him and his famous sister, the comedienne Victoria Wood.

ON the yellowing parchment, in tiny cramped writing, is a telling snapshot of someone's life. The young author, Nellie Mape, writes of everyday things - of boys she likes and those she's kissed, of the working class world she inhabits - but most revealingly of all, of her hopes and dreams. It was by reading this scrap of paper - and many others like it - that Chris Foote Wood came to know the girl who became his mother.

Sitting in the living room of his Bishop Auckland home, he explains how the writings, by both his parents, fell into his hands. "My father died in 1993 and my mother died in 2001, but it wasn't until my mother died that I inherited all their material," says Chris. "There's a huge archive of diaries and notebooks. My mother was a hoarder - she kept everything. My father wrote a daily journal for 40 years."

It was when Chris and his three sisters were going through their parents' things that it was agreed he should have the documents. "The four of us got together and none of my sisters wanted to take them on - they all have tidy houses," he says. "It was decided that all the stuff should come to me."

As a budding author - he'd already self-published local interest books - Chris decided to use the scribbled notes to write his mother's memoirs. He says just collating them was a mammoth task. "It took me two years to really sort through it all," says Chris.

For the 65-year-old, the project coincided with a shift to full time writing. Perhaps best known as the Liberal Democrats' leader on Wear Valley District Council, he says he's always wanted to take the step. "This is my third career," says Chris. "I started off as a civil engineer then from 1974 to 2003, I ran the North Press Agency. I gave that up two years ago to write full time and since then, my wife Frances has been keeping me. She's a wonderful woman."

When it emerges that work commitments mean the couple live apart, with Frances based in London, I wonder how the marriage lasts. Yet Chris is quick to reassure me, saying he last saw his wife that day. While he's been glad of her support, and knows his sisters will be keen to read the book, he says he won't seek their approval. "They will be interested in it but I'm not concerned about the family at all," says Chris. "It's not a question of whether they like it or not."

Despite this, he says he has a good relationship with his sisters. "I'm the eldest - I'm the only boy - and Victoria's the youngest," he says, referring to his famous sibling, the comedienne Victoria Wood, who has written a foreword for the book. "The four of us get together at least once a year.

"My sisters are all very talented. My oldest sister, Penny, is an artist and Rosalind is a film maker and teacher. I think I'm the only one who's led an ordinary life."

Of course, it's Victoria who stirs the most interest, and if Chris minds talking about her, he doesn't show it. "Being her brother is a fantastic privilege," he enthuses. "I've been able to watch her career right from the start and she's an absolute genius. Any talent I have is miniscule compared to hers."

When he read his parents' writings, Chris began to understand where this ability might have come from. "Let's face it, we inherit our genes from our parents," he says. "Clearly, there's a lot of my mother that I have inherited and that Victoria has inherited. I'm sure she inherits her musical talent from my father, who was a very accomplished musician. He wrote songs and put on shows."

Born in middle class east Manchester, Chris's father Stan was gifted in many fields. An insurance man by trade, he was also Parliamentary agent for the Bury constituency - to which Chris attributes his own political interests. In common with his son, his true love was writing. "He was an accomplished author," says Chris. "He wrote scripts for Coronation Street. He always said he was going to write full time but he never did."

As well as fulfilling his father's ambition, in writing the book, Chris is living up to a promise Stan made his mother. "I read in my father's diaries that he promised my mother that he was going to write her life story, but he never did, so I've done it," he says.

What emerged from his mother's diaries was the tale of a strong, determined woman, who succeeded despite the odds. Chris says that during the book's timespan, between the two world wars, she lived in abject poverty.

"She was born in 1919 and there were eight children, although two died early," he says. "It was an Irish Catholic working class family. The father was disabled due to the war so the mother had to go out to work. My mother went hungry most days - she says that in her writing."

Nellie grew up in east Manchester - the same area as Stan - but because of her background, her life was harder than Chris's father's. "Just across the canal there was a huge electricity station - I think it was the biggest in Europe at the time," he says. "The area used to have its own microclimate - it used to be one of the most heavily polluted areas in Europe. My mother would go round the factories every day to beg for food."

Yet despite the harsh conditions, Nellie thrived. Her outgoing nature and lively spirit meant she was never at a loose end. "My mother was a member of the Young Communists," says Chris. "She was a teetotaller and she used to campaign against the demon drink. She also had an active social life - she was out most nights. When she met my father he was number 106 of all the men she knew, although it was all very innocent in those days."

Although very bright, Nellie left school at 14 and went to work at the local steelworks. Three years later, her fiery nature got her banished from the family home. "She came home one night after she'd been out late and it was tanking down with rain," says Chris. "She took off her hat and shoes and one of her sisters brought her a cup of tea. Her father got on his high horse and said, 'you've got to stop going to these political meetings'. When she refused, he literally threw her out in her stocking feet. The other kids ran upstairs and flung her hat, coat and shoes out of the window. She went to stay with a friend and she was on her own then, which was quite something for a girl of 17 in the 1930s."

After falling pregnant while unwed - thus creating more scandal - Nellie married Stan and settled down. Chris says his own childhood, in Bury, Greater Manchester, was nothing like hers. "My childhood was great," he says. "My mother was very determined that her children should have the best of everything, and she worked very, very hard to achieve that. She wanted her children to have a much better start in life than she did."

With the biography - Nellie's Book - now complete, Chris's thoughts are of other projects. If all goes to plan, Stan's Book will soon follow. "If the book is a success, then hopefully I'll get Stan's Book out in a year or whenever," he says.

Whatever happens, Chris says reading his parents' writings will have been worthwhile. "It's only since I inherited this material that I've got to know my parents as people," he says. "It's been a fascinating journey."

* Nellie's Book by Chris Foote Wood (Sutton Publishing, £12.99).

* Chris will give a free talk on the book at Bishop Auckland Town Hall on March 22, at 7.30pm. To book a ticket, ring (01388) 602610.