The Radcliffe Mill Brass Band had a secret benefactor—Trudy Tomkins. their cornet player and grand-daughter of the conductor, Will Bailey. Trudy earned the money by singing, under the name of Antonia Doe,with the Spud Bashers, a local pop group. She had had to miss a band practice in order to record the group’s first disc…
Patti Charlton is a talented artist and wants to go to art school. But when her unscrupulous Uncle Sid adopts her to look after his motherless twins, he forbids her to paint, so she has to find ways of getting to art school in secret. She also has to contend with bullying at school, especially with spiteful Alice.
Anna Midnight, a talented artist, was left on the doorstep of a Children’s Home as a baby. Her surname is Midnight because that was when she was found, but her true identity is a mystery. She goes in search of a travelling artist in Cornwall because she is convinced he is her father.
Margie Heath is tired of being “the middle one” and being called dull and stupid because she does not shine like her sisters Babette (ballet) and Irene (piano). Grandma Heath encourages Margie’s talent for painting huge pictures, but her family does not understand.
Jo Jonson’s hobby of collecting and recording old folk songs was known only to her closest friends. Secretly she sends off her recording to a young folk singer Candy Cotton in the hopes of getting it on tv.
Plot:
Selina Redfern, an orphan unable to speak, lived with her grandparents in remote Eagle Valley, finding consolation in painting its creatures and wild beauty. The valley’s owner, Harvey Elton, wanted a licence to mine for minerals, but the inhabitants formed a preservation society. Stuart Bailey, an art teacher, offered to open an exhibition of Selina’s drawings to help save the valley. Selina, terrified of publicity, refused.
Selina the Silent One – Judy and Emma: #1040 (15 Dec. 1979) – #1049 (16 Feb. 1980)
Plot:
Sarah Laing, an orphan, lived at Hardlea Farm with her Uncle Silas who was her guardian. Sarah’s ambition was to become a famous actress like her mother, but Uncle Silas hated anything to do with the stage. Sarah was attending a summer drama school at nearby Carlin Castle and was making good progress, despite attempts by her uncle to prevent her from going. The head drama teacher was to give out parts the following day for an important play, but Sarah’s uncle had ordered her to stay at home to cut the corn.
In 1880, the Forsyth family are left penniless after the death of the father. One daughter, Amy, is sent to a London school to study music while the younger daughter, Sally, goes to Paris with her mother, who had never shown her much affection. Mrs Forsyth wants to pursue art, and pursues it with single-mindedness that comes at the cost of the household’s welfare. But her paintings are not good enough to sell, so Sally secretly turns to singing to make ends meet.
In 1934, when Cathy Collins’ father died, she and her mother moved from their comfortable home to 13 Grimm Street, in a poor part of town. Cathy’s one remaining joy was her piano, but she had to find money to keep up the payments on it. Cathy’s move also meant a change of school.
Grimm Street – Judy: #840 (14 February 1976) – #854 (22 May 1976)
Orphan Ellie Masters was determined to reach New York, where she hoped to join a training academy for young singers, to be opened by the world-famous Madame Lucia Condello. In Kansas City, Ellie sang to earn money for food, but got into trouble with the law. She hid in a theatre, but was soon discovered.
