Grace McCleen was born in 1981 in Wales. Speaking of her childhood Grace says, “I grew up in a fundamentalist religion and didn’t have much contact with non-believers. My parents weren’t typical converts so we didn’t have much contact with other believers either. When I was ten I was taken out of school and we moved to the country [Ireland]. I spent all the time in the fields with two sheepdogs, or making things in my room”.
Mary Berry is a British cookery writer, TV cook and Aga expert. From an early age Mary knew she wanted to pursue a career in food having learnt the art of baking from her mother. At the young age of 18 she trained at the Bath College of Home Economics, followed by a Paris Cordon Bleu course, and finally qualified as a teacher.
Penelope Smith, television presenter and personality, newsreader and writer, was born 21st September 1958 in Eastwood. In her early years, Penny attended Uppingham Primary School in Uppingham and the Rutland High School for Girls in Oakham. After beginning her career as a reporter and feature writer on the Peterborough Evening Telegraph, Penny then left to backpack through Central and South America and South East Asia, where she reported and presented on a current affairs programme for Radio Television Hong Kong.
Christopher John Sansom, British crime writer and author of the much-acclaimed Shardlake detective series, was born in 1952 in Edinburgh. An only child, C.J Sansom grew up “in a very conservative household, with a small and capital C”, so his interest in politics in his teens, leading him to a “radical, independent socialist position” was unexpected, but something that he has retained ever since.