Words: Susan Press
Photographs: John Cocks
Lord Pendry Square
It's three years since Lord Pendry, better known as Tom Pendry MP, stood down as the member for Stalybridge and Hyde. But the Labour peer, who has just turned 70, certainly made an indelible mark on his home patch. Stalybridge has not enjoyed the best of fortunes but it's now very much rejuvenated and a lot of the reasons for this are down to the ex-MP's efforts in helping secure EU and government funding for new economic and leisure initiatives like the re-opening of the Huddersfield canal. Streets have been cleaned cafe-bars opened, and relics of the dark industrial days swept away.
Huddersfield Narrow Canal
Tony Blair's father-in-law, die-hard Labour supporter, Tony Booth, used to live down the road in Broadbottom, and famously enlisted Pendry's help in helping young Blair get the nomination for the no-hope seat in the Beaconsfield by-election
The end result is that certain parts of 'Staly' are so improved that you could almost be in France. Armentieres Square is the hub of it all and nearby is the newly christened Lord Pendry Square. There is also an eponymous stand at the Stalybridge Celtic football ground. Then there are the Tom Pendry scholarships, which help less well off kids on the road to university. You could say he is something of a local hero. He can't walk more than a hundred yards or so without meeting and greeting former constituents. 'People ask me if I'm enjoying my retirement but I laugh and say, what retirement? I'm busier than ever.'
Lord Pendry worked as a trade union officer and engineer before getting into Parliament in 1970 along with 'new boy' contemporaries like former Labour leader Neil Kinnock and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. 'It's quite intimidating when you arrive at Westminster but that was quite a year and when I look back there was so much talent among my contemporaries. They also included the late John Smith, who was a wonderful man.' The political survivors from those far-off days meet up now and again and a photo of one of their jolly reunions hangs on the wall of the pristine office, which Lord Pendry still maintains at the Stalybridge Civic Hall (once the market hall).
Actually he is pretty big on photos and paintings. The walls are lined with them. There's one with the Pope, and one of his pal, ex-PM Jim Callaghan. Other photos abound of everyone from Brian Clough, to the boxer Lennox Lewis. But then Lord Pendry could just as easily have been a major sporting hero. 'The family sporting pedigree is pretty good. One of my uncles captained England, another cousin was captain of Charlton Athletic, one of my brothers was on the books of QPR and I was pretty good myself. But then someone accidentally stuck a knife in my instep and that was that.
Armentieres Square
The young Pendry fought back to learn boxing at he hands of a Benadictine monk and became an Oxford Blue, Football remains a passion, along with the music of Frank Sinatra. Since stepping down from Parliament, he has served at the helm of the Football Foundation, which encourages youngsters to take up the sport. His own family comprises daughter Fiona and son Dominic, who works at Westminster. He is separated from his wife, Lady Moira. The young Pendry was born in relatively comfortable circumstances in Broadstairs, Kent, attending school at St Augustines Abbey.
Lord Pendry Stand at Stalybridge Celtic FC
In 1949 at the age of 15 he 'illegally' joined the Labour Party (the standard age was 16) and enjoyed debates with the young Alf Morris, now his colleague in the Lords. 'During the war I was evacuated up to Durham and I listened to the miners talk about the hardships of of the 1920's and 1930s and that also shaped my politics. I delivered leaflets in the 1945 election. 'My original ambition was to be a Labour election agent but then I met Bessie Braddock MP, who encouraged me to aim higher. You didn't argue with Bessie. Lord Pendry admits he was unlucky to be elected at a time when Labour was pretty much in the wilderness. But he did serve in the Callaghan government as a Junior Minister for Northern Ireland and was party Whip in the days when every vote was counted. He was also a highly praised Shadow Sports Minister - but the expected call to government in 1997 never came.
'The day after the General Election I got a call from Tony and he told me he had some bad news for me, that he thought it was time to move on and someone else was getting the job. Yes, it was a bit hard to take at the time but then he was a young PM with his own agenda.' This was not, to put it mildly, the most magnanimous of gestures. Blairs father-in-law, die hard Labour supporter Tony Booth, used to live down the road in Broadbottom, and famously enlisted Pendry's help in helping young Blair get the nomination for the no-hope seat in the Beaconsfield by-election in 1982.
Lord Pendry recalls: 'Some time after that I had a call from Tony asking if we could meet for lunch. I wasn't one to turn down a meal from an up-and-coming young barrister so we met at the Gay Hussar restaurant in Soho. 'He told me he knew most of the good seats had gone for the 1983 election but that there was a selection coming up in Sedgefield and could I help in any way? 'I had an old friend up there so when I got back to the House of Commons I rang and told her what a bright lad he was and we managed to get him on the shortlist. He won the nomination by one vote.' The rest, as they say is history.
Lord Pendry is a sociable sort who enjoys sunny holidays in Portugal. At one time he had thoughts of moving back to the coast but it seems the people of Tameside won't let him. They like him so much they even granted him the honorary title of Lord of the Manor of Longendale - one not used for 300 years. 'I'm part of the fabric here and I love this place. There is a warmth and an empathy here you jost don't get in a city, not even just a few miles down the road in Manchester. I doubt I will move anywhere else now.' He says he would like to be simply remembered as being 'a good constituency MP' His replacement James Purnell, must find him a hard act to follow.
Old Market Hall Clock
Taken from Cheshire Life June 2004.
