104-year-old author relaunches her book about life in Deeping St James
A 104-year-old author has relaunched a book she wrote about her childhood after a surge of local interest.
Nancy Titman became a published author eight years ago, aged 96, after writing ‘Swift To Tell’, a book about life growing up in Deeping St James in the 1920s and 1930s.
Titled after her maiden name of Swift, the book largely compiles a series of articles written for a local history group newsletter.
After she was persuaded to relaunch the book this summer, Nancy hosted a book signing and sale at Deepings Community Library, in Market Deeping.
“There was so much interest locally and people kept asking if we could get it reprinted, so we did,” she said.
Nancy was born in 1918, the final year of the First World War, but the Swift family goes back three centuries in Deeping St James.
A post-war slump in agriculture due to cheaper American imports made life challenging for the family of a cattle dealer, but Nancy has fond memories.
“We had a farmyard and lived by the river so we had lovely times playing by the river and down in the fields,” she said.
“It was really idyllic even though there wasn’t much money.
“There was no telly then or wireless - I remember radio coming in.”
Nancy, who attended Stamford High School, moved away briefly to work as a newly-qualified teacher in the London borough of Fulham, but has spent most of her life in her home village.
“Deeping was a sleepy place,” said Nancy, who has four children, nine grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
“We had a church and a Sunday school and that was about it.
“About the most exciting thing was the Sunday school trip to the seaside which was our summer treat. We would all save up our pennies for ice creams.”
But it wasn’t always so sleepy. Among her childhood recollections is seeing a ghost near the churchyard which she believes was that of the Reverend John George.
“There was this person wearing a black hat walking towards us,” she recalled.
“We knew it was something funny, and when we turned around there was nothing there.”
