23 February Results rolling in! Algebra, 6th = 74%. Not bad. Latin = 55% Thrilled! History top = 85% smashing! Geography, disgusting, 2nd = 67%.

In 1954 in Carlisle lived an ordinary 15-year-old schoolgirl called Margaret. She would go on to become an acclaimed writer, the author of the novelsGeorgy GirlandDiary of an Ordinary Womanas well as biographies and memoirs. But this is her diary from that year; her life. Hers might be a lost world, but her daily observations bring it back in vivid, irresistible detail.

7 May Wonderful feat accomplished yesterday by Roger Bannister! At last, the 4 minute mile. Glad an Englishman got it before anyone else.

24 July Bought a pair of shorts white, very short with two pockets. Super but rather daring!

2 September Mums coming back on Saturday. Miss her every minute! I'll never marry and have a family -- housekeeping for two for a week is bad enough -- but for life!

Born in Carlisle, Margaret Forster was the author of many successful and acclaimed novels, includingHave the Men Had Enough?,Lady's Maid,Diary of an Ordinary Woman,IsThere Anything You Want?, Keeping the World Away,OverandThe Unknown Bridesmaid. She also wrote bestselling memoirs Hidden Lives, Precious Livesand, most recently,My Life in Houses and biographies. She was married to writer and journalist Hunter Davies and lived in London and the Lake District. She died in February 2016, just before her last novel,How to Measure a Cow, was published.