A RETIRED Stourbridge teacher has written and illustrated her first novel – inspired by her wartime hero father.

Jean Hayward, who has lived in the town for 30 years, has penned A Potteries Boy, a book where the central character is based on her father Walter when he was young.

She describes the book as ‘a story of friendship and adversity set in smoky pre-war Stoke on Trent’ and says it will appeal to readers ‘who enjoy immersing themselves in the past’.

Set between the wars, the story – which features 43 of Jean’s black and white illustrations – centres on an 11-year-old setting out to make a huge dragon vase.

Jean says: “It is a tale of friendship and bullying, loss and restoration, as a close knit community comes together to help him achieve his goal.

“But not everyone is friendly - the lamp-lit streets and smoky bottle ovens harbour an evil presence.”

While the story is fictional, not biographical, Jean admits she based the story’s hero on her father Walter, who served in the Royal Artillery and fought through the whole of the war.

Jean added: “After his death in 2013 I felt that writing the story kept me close to him.

“I enjoyed drawing him as a little boy too, with the help of one or two old photos.

“And I also had fun creating a host of little pals for my father and bringing them to life in the illustrations too.”

Jean taught A-Level English at Dudley College for 13 years and, after she retired, undertook voluntary work at Oldswinford Primary School in Field Lane for five years, helping children with their reading skills.

She added: “I taught many people in the Stourbridge and Dudley areas and I should like to think that some of them will remember me after all these years and might be interested to hear about the book.”

A Potteries Boy is available through Amazon Books (£12.95) and on Amazon Kindle (£5).

Any profits from the book will be sent to The Veterans Farm Able, a charity which seeks to help servicemen with post traumatic stress disorder by placing them on farms.