Tricia's son David was 16 and wanted a job while he studied for his A levels but couldn't get a Saturday job on the market. At the time Tricia was working part-time as receptionist at the Councils Rise Lane Offices and spoke to the markets manager who suggested they have their own stall and could have one immediately if they were selling something different!

This was before we had a Tourist Information Centre "said Tricia" visitors were starting to come into town and were calling at the council offices asking questions and wanting postcards, so we decided to set out our stall with postcards, street maps and leaflets on the area. But we needed something to stand up at the back. And the rest of course, is history as Tricia produced pen and ink drawings of local landmarks such as the Town Hall and they all sold on the first day. She began tinting them slightly then one person asked for colour and David promised them there would be some 'next week' ! Tricia went out and bought her first proper watercolours and in a week was producing watercolour landscapes of the area and the stall went from strength to strength. Finally the postcards and leaflets dissapeared and framed originals and prints of her work took over and David dissapeared, busy with his A levels. By the end of the first year Tricia had resigned from the council office. One stall had become three, two days a week and Tricia spent the rest of the time sketching and painting. She also bought frames from a supplier and sold these on her stall. Tricia had enjoyed doing some sketching whilst on narrow boat holidays with her family. While her two son's Adrian and David and their father Eric were busy entertaining themselves on the water she sketched the landscapes and also painted Traditional Canalware to sell en route. Leaving her job meant burning her bridges but she never looked back, eventually gave up the stall and took two units in the Todmorden Craft Centre when it opened to house her working studio and gallery. A year before the Craft Centre closed she established her studio at home and held two exhibition's a year at the Tourist Information Centre instead. These will come to a close this year with her final exhibition in December, featuring a lot of new work and many of her favourite scenes under snow to suit the occasion. After 20 years I wanted a break from the pressure of producing so much new work for exhibiting and though I will continue to paint for pleasure, gardening as taken over and it is time to move on. However she still enjoys her craft and has recently bought her first pastels and is experimenting with them in her Harley Wood Home. In recent years her interest in tracing her family tree, as a member of the Fielden Society, has taken her to Ireland which has landscapes to rival her local insperation. Some of her latest work features these scenes which are now part of her collection of Prints and cards which will still be on available at the Tourist Information Centre the year round.