Pat photographed in March of 2023, when she was placed 3rd in the Poetry Competition.
Pat was chosen as People’s Friend Writer of the Week in April, 2020. Article here.
From Linda Fulton:
I met Pat the first time I attended a Leeds Writers Monday manuscript meeting in 2015. As a stranger amid a large circle of clearly talented writers, I wondered if I would fit in. Then, during the interval along came Pat with her invincible smile, warm welcome and immediate friendship. Now I was a member.
Pat’s name was familiar to me, but as she was modest in her achievements, it was a while before I realised I had several booklets at home with her name on the front. These were seasonal plays for young children, music by Leeds music teacher Jan Holdstock and libretto by Pat Belford. Pat told me that she and Jan had been long-standing friends. I can attest that their musical collaborations resulted in many delightful school productions, their scripts a first port-of-call for busy festively-harassed early-years teachers. I had also spotted her authorship of at least one children’s novel published by The Oxford Reading Tree. I was soon to find she was a regular contributor to the magazine ‘Peoples Friend’.
Pat’s writing was always life-affirming. As a reader you wanted to be in her settings, eating the delicious meals she described, anticipating what would happen next to her characters. She was generous, honest and helpful in her feedback to other writers, had a subtle humour and a sharp wit. When we could no longer use the Carriage Works for our Saturday women’s fiction group meetings, Pat welcomed us to her home where she was only too happy to wait on us with hot drinks and biscuits, putting up with our packed lunch crumbs. She was open to new ideas, recently enjoying a new app on her phone which automatically typed the group’s conversation and feedback to counter her hearing loss. Problems were meant to be solved.
I feel privileged to have known Pat over the last nine years. I’ll always remember her warmth, kindness, her pride in and love of her family, her indomitable spirit and stoicism in her final months as she faced illness. I treasure her friendship.
From Lucie Warrington:
Like many of us, I first met Pat the first time I attended a manuscript evening, in 2016. Her welcome was warm and kind, and she made me feel like I’d come to the right place. She welcomed me back the next few times I attended, always remembering my name and what I was working on. When I joined the committee in 2018 I was glad of her deep knowledge and passion for Leeds Writers Circle, later she was also a great support to me during my time as Chair. I will miss Pat, for her kindness but also her prolific writing, which always inspired me.
From Gill Osborne:
Short story writers beware: never turn your nose up at The People’s Friend. I was almost guilty, until I met Pat. We shared a passion for Jane Austen. No budding writer with any sense would turn their nose up at her. I was intrigued. There had to be something special about this women’s magazine? After all, my grandma subscribed to it and she was almost as well-read as Pat. Launched in 1869, the ‘Friend’ is the longest running women’s weekly in the world, publishing more fiction than any other. Our very own Pat Belford was a regular contributor. Believe me, it’s hard getting a story accepted by them. Their formula is tougher to nail than a Petrarchan sonnet. Thanks to Pat’s guidance, a few of us in the Womag group succeeded. I learnt valuable lessons along the way. Pat said, ‘Write for your reader. Don’t be self-indulgent. Be disciplined. Break your dialogue up with gestures and beats. Sprinkle just a little bit of description to bring your scene to life, like fairy dust. Careful not to get bogged down with backstory. Watch your tenses, Gill! You need the pluperfect there. (Err, okay, I didn’t dare ask, googled it). There’s a bit too much going on, you only need one simple idea, I’m not sure I’m seeing enough character development, that’s implicit, watch those adjectives, comma here, capital letter there… all delivered with that glorious, radiant smile!
I can’t thank Pat enough for welcoming shy, under-confident me into the warm arms of Womag ten years ago. For encouraging me, keeping me going. I will miss her dearly.
From Suzanne McArdle:
Pat was secretary of Leeds Writers Circle twenty years ago when I attended my very first meeting in the rather poky basement of a city centre pub. In the break she drew me into conversation, and was so warm and welcoming, that I was definitely going to come back for the next meeting. Formerly a teacher, she was very modest about her writing achievements, but I discovered that she’d written novels for schools published by Scholastic, and was still writing, and publishing, short stories for the People’s Friend.
Pat remained Secretary for quite some time and was an active member of the committee which secured the group’s place at the Carriageworks. She recalled times when Leeds Writers were moved on from various venues; you never knew when the pub or coffee shop would give notice. With a proper meeting room, it was hoped the group would survive and thrive. This is very much part of Pat’s legacy.
Pat also told stories of how the Circle was when she first joined – recalling ‘lots of old ladies in hats’, and a rather long queue to access the meeting room since no one was allowed in without paying their admission fee. Fortunately, things had loosened up by the early noughties.
I discovered that I lived quite close to Pat, and she became a friend. I’d pop round for coffee, and we often travelled in and out to LWC meetings on the bus.
When I moved away from Leeds there was no question that we’d keep in touch. She came and visited my new doer-upper home in York and, true writer and storyteller that she was, transformed the horror story of my home renovation into a rather lovely and heart-warming short story which was published by the People’s Friend.
Whenever I returned to Leeds for events, Pat’s ‘B and B’ room was always offered if she thought I’d have to set out very early. Often, I came and stayed just so I could spend time with this inspirational woman who had become a very dear friend. And she also got me back into the fold of Leeds Writers Circle when a spot came up in the Womag group and Pat very kindly wondered if I might like to join.
From Su Ryder:
I always looked forward to hearing a reading from Pat. There was a delicious, restful quality to her voice, and a gentle strength to her personality. The whole Circle would sit in charmed, respectful quiet, under the spell of her storytelling. She was always kind, encouraging and supportive of other writers, and had that air of a good teacher, the kind you will always remember with affection, long after leaving school. It is difficult to imagine LWC without her. Dear Pat, this life story may now be at its close, but you will be remembered always at Leeds Writers Circle.
From Roz Kendall:
Some seven years ago, as a new member of Leeds Writers’ Circle, Pat helped me when I joined the WOMAG group. She provided invaluable advice on topics and content, along with knowledge of possible publishing opportunities to all the lady members. Her gentle insightful writing style gave pleasure to those who heard her read. With her guidance I felt confident enough to contribute to Manuscript Evenings too. In more recent years she opened up her home for regular group meetings, always willing to serve refreshments with care and humour. I have much to thank Pat for.
From Joanna Bucktrout:
Like just about everyone else, I met Pat when I went to my first evening at Writers Circle. She greeted me and made me feel welcome and keen to join the group. We became immediate friends. After a while, Pat, Norah, Ann and myself formed a subgroup and christened it Womag – short for ‘womens magazines’ – as Pat had had much success writing for them, particularly People’s Friend. She also had considerable success with her books for primary school children over the years and told me recently she had sold the rights to one of her most popular to China.
She had a writing style and a view on life that was completely her own. It reflected herself: family oriented, optimistic and kind, and all expressed in elegant prose. And she was a great source of help for new writers.
Our magic word was Swanwick. We and others from Writers Circle attended the writer’s summer school in Derbyshire for several years, and had the best times! Needless to say, everyone there knew her, either as a teacher or a friend.
Finally, her stoicism and bravery in the face of her illness was a lesson to all. I will miss her.
From Pat Pickavance:
So many of us share this first-time memory of a woman extending a welcome and a lovely open smile. You could arrive trembling in your boots or cold with dread, but to encounter Pat was to feel the sun come out from behind the darkest of clouds. She inspired a sense of belonging. We miss her integrity, her grace, her willingness to take on and participate fully in whatever came her way. But above all her warmth.
Leeds Writers Circle 
From Anne Watson:
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