Back in the Day: Melvyn Bragg's deeply affecting, first ever memoir

by Melvyn Bragg

Melvyn Bragg's first ever memoir - an elegiac, intimate account of growing up in post-war Cumbria, which vividly evokes a vanished world.

'The best thing he's ever written . . . What a world he captures here. You can almost smell it' Rachel Cooke, Observer

'Wonderfully rich, endearing and unusual . . . a balanced, honest picture' Richard Benson, Mail on Sunday

In this elegiac and heartfelt memoir, Melvyn Bragg recreates his youth in the Cumbrian market town of Wigton: a working-class boy who expected to leave school at fifteen yet who gained a scholarship to Oxford University; who happily roamed the streets and raided orchards with his gang of friends until a breakdown in adolescence drove him to find refuge in books.

Vividly evoking the post-war era, Bragg draws an indelible portrait of all that formed him: a community-spirited northern town, still steeped in the old ways; the Lake District landscapes that inspired him; and the many remarkable people in his close-knit world.

'A charming account of a lost era, full of details and often lyrical descriptions of people and places . . . fascinating and often moving' Christina Patterson, Sunday Times

Genres: Biography, Memoir, Nonfiction, Autobiography

416 pages, Paperback

Published July 18, 2023

About the author

Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, FRSL, FRTS (born 6 October 1939) is an English author, broadcaster and media personality who, aside from his many literary endeavours, is perhaps most recognised for his work on The South Bank Show.

Bragg is a prolific novelist and writer of non-fiction, and has written a number of television and film screenplays. Some of his early television work was in collaboration with Ken Russell, for whom he wrote the biographical dramas The Debussy Film (1965) and Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World (1967), as well as Russell's film about Tchaikovsky, The Music Lovers (1970). He is president of the National Academy of Writing. His 2008 novel, Remember Me is a largely autobiographical story.

He is also a Vice President of the Friends of the British Library, a charity set up to provide funding support to the British Library.

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the start. I had trouble enjoying this book. I had to read at least half until it began to improve for me From then on, my appreciation grew and grew.

Melvyn Bragg, BBC broadcaster, author and parliamentarian, presents here a memoir of his youth. He was born on October 6, 1939, so, right at the very start of the Second World War. He writes of growing up in the town of Wigton, located in Cumbria, a region in northwestern England of which the beautiful Lake District is part. The book concludes on his having been awarded and having accepted a scholarship to Oxford. As a young boy growing up in rooms above his parents’ pub, we see that what he has achieved is praiseworthy. We look at the how and why of his achievement. We observe where he came from, his parents and family, and the townsfolk he rubbed shoulders with. How his upbringings shaped him and what motivated him are central questions.

The book does not run completely chronologically. This never disturbed me,

As a youngster Bragg’s interests were those of many a young lad. The games he played and the sports he took part in meant little to me. Being a member of different teams, he and they of course aimed to win. I personally am not a competitive person. For me, doing a sport, physical exercise or any other activity is done simply for the fun of doing it, not for coming in first.

Then, as a young teenager, Melvyn has a psychological breakdown. At this point, he does two things. He discovers the balance and stability that being out in nature brings. He discovers the enjoyment that can be found in books, in reading and studying and analyzing what he personally draws from a given author’s writing. It was at this point I began to relate to Melvyn Bragg!

This proves to me one thing very loud and clear. Do not give up on a book too soon. A book you dislike at the start can turn around and give you something very special and meaningful, something that speaks to you, something that you will be glad not to have missed!

Other sections, mostly near the end, I liked a lot too. Christmas and New Year’s town traditions are evocatively described. There is a bit about hounds that caught my attention too. I like very much the entire section about the teachers who helped him attain a higher education. There arises a conflict between the wishes of his parents and the possibility of his continuing his studies. My heart was pounding. I needed to know how this would be resolved. This was very suspenseful!

The audiobook is narrated by the author. He sounds so darn dreary. Listening to him talk is depressing. I didn’t appreciate this given the few hours of sunlight and the cold dreary weather I have had to deal with currently. The author’s speech is not clear; he mumbles. I did not like the narration, and this has nothing to do with the broad Cumbrian dialect. The dialect was not the problem! Setting the speed to 80% and listening to sections several times does make it possible to hear the lines. Two stars for the audiobook narration. Bragg should have gotten someone else to read the audiobook. Well, that is my opinion at least.

One more point: I very much like the ending. Bragg says, “I would go, but I would never leave!” He is in effect saying that even though he has chosen to go to Oxford to study, in his heart he will never leave behind his home and those living there! Kind of schmaltzy, but I do like it. Bragg expresses himself well and structures his material so his message becomes clear. I will soon check out the author’s novels.



**********************

*Back in the Day: A Memoir 4 stars

The Cumbrian Trilogy
*The Hired Man TBR
*A Place in England TBR
*Kingdom Come TBR

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melvyn Bragg has been something of a hero of mine for many years. One of the generation of working- and lower middle-class children for whom a post-war grammar school education was the key to unlocking a future far beyond what their parents and grandparents had ever been able to aspire to, his impact on the cultural life of the UK from the Sixties until now has been immeasurable. Prolific author, critic, historian, populariser of art, science and philosophy, broadcaster, politician and campaigner, and for more than twenty years, presenter of one of the jewels in the crown of the BBC, the weekly Radio 4 programme ‘In Our Time’, his commitment and enthusiasm for the examined life can be traced back to his roots in the north Cumbrian market town of Wigton.
His new memoir, Back in the Day, focuses on his early life and is a remarkable portrait of a childhood and adolescence, a family and a community. He writes so well and with such immediacy that the reader is immersed fully into his life and that of the town. The first 200 pages are an impressionistic jumble of memories and feelings from early childhood; the second (the two are divided by a serious mental and physical breakdown that seems to come out of nowhere at the age of fourteen) show him developing a love of learning, literature and hard intellectual labour that would underpin his later professional life. A remarkable, deeply moving and stimulating book.

[Donna Holland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful evocation of a long gone time when Melvyn was growing up in the forties and fifties in Cumbria . Glimpses of the Man he would become with his championing of the Arts . The local characters who inhabited his world make for fascinating reading . It ends with him winning a Scholarship to Oxford University ,but as he so eloquently points out he had to go but he never left his home town of Wigton .

[Meg Briers · Rating 4 out of 5]

its an in depth study of Wigton and its people - fascinating and heartwarming but i thought it would be a longer term memoir, i want the uni years! also the line between fact and fiction is hard to judge with the level of details you get about specific conversations

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring with overlong descriptions of so many things.
New Year’s resolution: be more ruthless when it comes to abandoning books, especially worthy ones even if they were on a Booker list

[Ginni · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent biography by a man who has done so much for the arts and cultural life here. Bragg is ten years my senior so his experiences of growing up in the war years, and being a teenager in the 50s were relatable, especially as my brothers were that much older than me. The really fascinating part is the portrait of Wigtown, his Cumbrian home town that was such a tight community,; his family were right at the heart of this, as his parents ran a pub, and were active in the local Labour Party and in sporting activities. As a result, he grew up knowing people from those settings, as well as school and Scouts, swimming and all his other childhood activities. An only child, he went to the local grammar school and had the opportunity to stay on in 6th form, supported by his parents, when almost all his peer group left to start work. Excellent read, and and a fascinating portrait of an era that has now gone.

[Paul Forster · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very moving account of his childhood, up to getting to Oxford. I really enjoyed it but it feels extremely sentimental and rose tinted , which I can forgive for a man of Melvyn' s age, and in many ways I'm sure it's all true , but I'm always dubious of whole conversations people recall or very detailed accounts of events , or maybe he's just got a fantastic memory ? It's very warm and kind, a close community , loving parents, friends, etc. It feels a bit random and at times rambling , though, and I skim read the last few chapters as he goes into microscopic detail of his path to Oxford. I understand what a huge thing this was at the time but I still found myself exacerbated by young Melvyn and his tortuous indecision about what to do !

[dorothy cannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable

These are memoirs of his early life in Wigton. I found some of this book boring with long overdrawn descriptions of trivial things.
I also found the book a but rambling and not written in any particular order just things he remembered while going
Off at tangents,
I was very disappointed with this book.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strangely impersonal for a memoir. I found it a bit boring and didn't finish it.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Melvyn Bragg was born in 1939 so just five years before me. So there was much that I found familiar about the story of his childhood and youth. So this review is not just about the book, but other personal stuff that I conjured up from my past. So when he starts with his grandmother when he was six, I am remembering mine. Mine were polar opposites. My father's mother had pretensions of grandeur while my mother came from a family of miners and steelworkers. So mum and dad had hugely different backgrounds. When my brother and I went to stay with my mother's parents, there was an outside lavatory and the toilet paper was newspaper cut into squares.

There is a note about manager of a bank who lived in the flat above. Ours was above one of the shops that my father used to work for. The first at Alton in Staffordshire, then in London and finally in Braintree in Essex. I enjoyed reading about Bragg's childhood when his parents ran a pub. There is one terrific chapter that records the fights there, all sorted by his father. "It was only later, much later, I appreciated how strong my father was". Then chapters on playing football in the park (Kensington Gardens for us), holidays at home, books (Biggles, Jennings and Just William. But no Enid Blyton for us), The Goon Show on the radio (we listened to The Navy Lark, Educating Archie and Hoirney into Space, but these were a little later). But Melvyn and I were listening to Radio Luxemberg at the same time, crackly reception and all. And we both had bags of chips from the fish and chip shop. Marbles in the gutter, for us a drain cover. Bonfire night.

When Bragg goes to grammar school he remembers all the names of his teachers. More than I can. He plays rugby for the highly successful Wigton Schools and their brilliant coach Jimmie Morton. Going unbeaten in the north west for four years! In the 6th form he knuckles down to working hard. If only my teachers had been half as good. (See separate post). His Saturday night dances were at Wigton Market Hall. Mine were at Great Dunmow Jazz Club. But his huge commitment to study with the support of some excellent teachers brings huge success in his "A Levels". This leading to an entrance exam and interview for Queens College, Oxford, with an offer for a scholarship after his National Service. Only shortly after he was no longer needed to join up. An alternative for Wadam College is again successful. All because, as his teacher tells his father, he has "a rare capacity for hard work". Thank goodness it's rare as I only found such commitment in my career.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a slow burn to start with, but became totally engrossed in the teenage years of Melvyn Bragg’s life.

I really knew nothing about him before reading this and am reminded of the saying that “you can take someone out of a place but not the place it of them”. Whilst a home life living above a pub would not seem ideal for an elite student, this story proves that with the right support, you can achieve so much.
MB’s struggle with mental illness is expressed in a way I don’t think I’ve read before. Be aware that this is written about, although it doesn’t cover many pages, if this would be a trigger.

I loved hearing about the wonderful landscape around Wigton and the days of innocence. Although this takes place before my birth, it reminds me of my own working class childhood. Of course this tends to be idealised over time. Extreme poverty existed, people weren’t as well nourished physically as they are today. However, I feel we were better nourished mentally without the pressures that youngsters have today from social media and societal expectation.

There were so many hours to fill in each day without computers, mobile phones or TV. Walking, cycling, singing, dances, swimming, rugby all played a part in developing MB’s character and still left many hours free for study.

The whole community took pride and pleasure in the author’s achievements and he gives us some insight into the challenge of “thinking” himself into the role of elite scholar. We see how the old boy network was very much a part of acceptance into Oxford. A greater part of the marks were given to the interview process rather than the exam results, thereby ensuring that intake was very much skewed in favour of public school pupils who would have had much broader life experience as the sons and daughters of wealthy parents.

This memoir leaves us just as the author has been accepted into Oxford University, so I imagine there will be another couple of volumes and I look forward to reading them.

[Dora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I know every nook and cranny, every little alleyway and footpath in Wigton yet I have never been to Cumbria let alone that town.

This book engaged me right from the start and I guess Melvyn’s childhood was not very much different to a lot of kids growing up during those years. I think he was fortunate in being an only child in some ways because his parents were able to support his choices whereas they might not have been able to if there were a handful of other kids to care for.

I loved the story about falling in love with Sarah and their sexual explorations, fear of pregnancy which is so familiar to people of that generation. I really would have liked to read a bit more about how and why he and Sarah moved apart.

He writes tenderly but not in an over sentimental way and I liked that. I did shed a tear when he received his A level and Scholarship results and the quiet but proud way his parents took the news. A great read, thoroughly enjoyed every page.

Let’s hope Melvyn will share the next part of his story and hopefully include Sarah.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Undoubtedly the most important, and in my opinion, the best arts broadcaster the UK has produced. Not necessarily a brilliant writer but a very good one on his day. Put that to one side for the minute and judge this book as a cultural and social history of growing up in a Cumbrian market town in the 40s and 50s (I grew up in one in the 60s and 70s...just touching the 50s but no memories beyond a couple of photographs of me in an enormous pram outside our front door) and its a gem. Bragg captures a lost world with love and affection. The first half of the book is the best. This history of mid-century Wigton is the real story. The story of Bragg himself is a very impressive one but the autobiography isn’t as good as the social history. But then, the social history wouldn’t have worked as well without the autobiography.

[Daniel Gusev · Rating 3 out of 5]

One can compare Bragg with Karl Sagan - due both promoters of knowledge innate curiosity, extreme diligence and preparation as well as ability to poignantly uncover powerful truths with simple questions.

I will be forever grateful for his program “In Our Time” on BBC Radio 4 and for his books on Tyndale and King James Bible.

The current book - covering his school and uni years, is one I decided to read out of respect - understanding his personal need to write it. But I cannot say I personally appreciated it like I did his “professional” works. It’s still a powerful retelling of hardships endured in postwar Britain, and how that imbued him with the qualities many generations now enjoy.

[Eddie Lees · Rating 5 out of 5]

on Melvyn Bragg’s ‘Early Years’ Autobiography

This has all the hallmarks of a frank and sincerely honest book; a pastiche of look-in-the mirror reflections; a series of early-life’s paradoxes and contradictions. Above all, however, it is a warm look back on a life flavoured with the realities of life in England’s north-west and of a hard working student’s pathway towards academic success.

Full disclosure: I am a fan of Mr Bragg’s and, I just discovered, an exact contemporary.

A fulfilling pleasure to read and to recommend to those who enjoy autobiographical writing at its very best.

[Imlac · Rating 3 out of 5]

A literary memoir that limits itself to the first 18 years or so of the narrator's life - to the eve of his taking up a scholarship in Modern History at Wadham College, Oxford. It is a detailed and loving portrait of Wigton in Cumbria, its locales and people. Bragg, an only child, seems to have had loving parents and a secure working class upbringing.

There wasn't much, though, about his inner life. Thanks to devoted teachers at a recently established grammar school he learns to study hard, piling on a lot of self-imposed work to gain, first, a scholarship at Queens (which could only offer a place in two years) and then again at Wadham (which was able to take him immediately). But concerning his own ideas or mental development very little is said.

[Alan Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book particularly as I lived in Wigton for most of my early life (although it was in the 50's and 60's so some years after those in the book) and attended the same schools and knew many of the people and places described. I found the style easy to read and extremely evocative of the place and its people. My mother, now 92, still lives in Wigton and so we continue to visit every few weeks.
Clearly the book brings back so many of my own memories but I am sure any reader will enjoy this real life story of growing up in a much loved place with much loved people.

[Les Dangerfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of the book is a collection of memories of childhood to the age of ten or twelve - an interesting reminder of many things in my own childhood. However, the second half was a much more compelling narrative about his teenage years, his dawning determination to do well academically at school and ultimately go to university. He’s one of the many, including myself, from the 50s and 60s who came from ‘disadvantaged’ working class backgrounds and who benefitted greatly from a grammar school education.

[Kevin Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable descriptive narrative of the author's place of origin.

This book took me back, as I am only a few years younger than the author, but born and raised in the City of Bristol, England. So many parallels, struggles for money and food, adolescent confusion and intense emotions, balancing a job with school, sports, friends, learning how to study, getting into the university against all odds, the girl back home. Highly recommended. Kevin Thomas Morgan

[Stephen Cunliffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really touched me. I also went to a grammar school in the industrial north of England and from there was able to earn a place at Oxford (but no scholarship for me) taking me to an experience and subsequent life beyond anything my parents ever had the opportunity to enjoy themselves. My own journey on this same path was just six years later than the author's.
And the description of his first real love, which we know cannot last beyond the end of the book, had me very close to tears.

[Mr G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but somewhat novelly

Melvyn is someone to admire and is always interesting to listen to, and there are many fascinating vignettes in this, but there's also a lot of direct speech which feels a bit hard to credit, and a lot of Romantic place-focused stuff which I found a bit dull. I'm glad I read it and feel that I now know something of a time and place that would otherwise always be a mystery, but I wouldn't recommend it to many without some caveats

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book, a wonderful evocation of a time and place. Like any good memoir, it is a combination of personal memory and sociological observation. Especially pleasing is the bringing back to life in imagination his mother and father. I found his recollections of his mother particularly moving. At times I was reminded of John McGahern's "Memoir", another great book that pays heartfelt tribute to a cherished mother.

[Gerard Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb . Captures the essence of the times, the characters, the atmosphere of Wigton.

Melvyn Bragg's first memoir is outstanding - beautifully written -a book that reflects the importance of family life, education, the importance of inspiring teachers, the growth of relationships and the importance of belonging to a sense of place.

Don't miss it.

[Joe Queen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in the day!

Parts of this book reminded me of life in 50's and 60's. A time before social media when folk went out and enjoyed themselves. I had a similar experience that working hard is the only way to succeed. Pity we can't all go back and have a look was it utopia I don't know?

[Els · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prachtige biografie waarin zijn geboorteplaats Wigton in Cumbria en haar inwoners tot leven komen. Ik raad alleen aan niet de audioversie aan. De auteur heeft het boek zelf ingesproken maar hij is niet altijd goed te verstaan.

[natwest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book

I am a native of Wigton and could relate to everything Melvyn wrote even his parents who I knew.the book is fairly accurate and even with the name changes I knew who he was talking about and this made it a fabulous read can't recommend it enough

[Graham Weller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. A slow start as it was very forensic in its style. As the story became more about his growth as a person it became absorbing. He also invokes the life in Wigton such that the reader almost becomes a part of the community.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. What a memory he has but I believe they are authentic as I’m a contemporary. So well written. Many thoughtful observations

[David Highton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written memoir of a childhood, his family and his home town right up to his scholarship to Wadham College, Oxford

[Paul Lehane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poignant & true..a beautiful book.