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Andrea Born in 1951, Andrea grew up in a rural village in Gloucestershire in a lower-middle class family.

Andrea’s family life revolved around their non-conformist church. On Sunday she went to church in the morning and the evening, with Sunday school in between. She loved going on rambles with the church Youth Club.

You felt you were part of a little community that valued you.

Andrea dreamed about what it would be like to wear trousers, or drive a car.

Andrea had her own bedroom, where she did her homework, or whiled away the hours reading or dreaming. She even wrote poetry.

Her headmistress believed that girls should not have to restrict themselves to traditionally ‘female’ subjects. She gave Andrea the confidence to follow her passion for science.

Though she loved her classes, Andrea was picked on for being more interested in sport than makeup and boys.

I was quietly suffering really, and the teachers knew. I had a crush on one of them – for years possibly – and she asked to talk to me after school. She asked me, "What do you think will happen as you get older?" but I knew it wasn’t something I was going to just grow out of.

Andrea did well in her A-levels and got a place at university in London. Instead of living at home with her parents she now lived in student digs with friends.

It was a world away from her life with her family: a time of political awakening, like-minded people and a chance to experiment with sex and drugs.

Lady Madonna, by The Beatles
The first time I heard Lady Madonna I was really struck by it. It's about women's struggle. It's about poverty. It's about unfairness. That was really what my mind was turning to in those days.

Now Andrea spent her Sundays exploring the docks on the south side of the Thames, wandering the little alleys and wharfs.

Andrea's college was going through a 'pretty leftie' period, and like many other students in the late sixties she became more politically active, often joining in student marches.

At night, she sometimes went to nightclubs, including the infamous Gateway Club, which was the only club in London for gay women.

It was down the King's Road, a crummy place really. Down in the basement and small, hot and dark. I used to go there secretly!

Despite the freedom and experimentation of her life in London, Andrea did not come out to her family, concerned that they would find it difficult to come to terms with.

*****

Andrea stayed in London which she felt gave her the space to be openly gay. She had her first serious girlfriend in her late twenties. She met the love of her life, Linda, in her thirties and they are still together.

Andrea started work in pharmaceutical research, later retraining and moving into charity work. Looking back, she feels that a combination of workplace sexism and her own anxieties sometimes held her back.

Andrea was pleased to retire at 65, and she and Linda moved further out of London to enjoy their retirement. Andrea spends a lot of time at her allotment and volunteers at the local foodbank. She is still politically active and campaigns against climate change. She was arrested for the first time in her life at an Extinction Rebellion protest, aged 69. Andrea celebrated her 70th birthday with a walk and a picnic with Linda and her friends.

I'd tell my younger self to be bolder… I'd say "You’ve got a good sense of who you are and your worth, now be bolder in the way you deal with the world, and don’t be lazy about your other talents!"

Credits:

All images by Candice Purwin