The making of Westall

What isn't as well known, however, is that he spent more than half of his life living in Cheshire.

Although he died 14 years ago, the world famous writer's links with Northwich and Lymm have at last been celebrated in a posthumous memoir, The Making of Me, which has been edited by his partner, Lindy McKinnel, who still lives in the home they shared in Lymm.

His story is a fascinating one, filled with drama and tragedy in equal measure and is as compelling as anything he wrote.

Robert Atkinson Westall was born on October 7, 1929, at 7 Vicarage Street, North Shields. An only child, he was 10 when the Second World War broke out. The relentless air raids on the North East coloured his outlook on life and provided the thrilling background to his first book.

One vivid passage from The Making of Me describes his father digging the family's air-raid shelter and striking, six feet down, the earthenware field drain from an old farm. If his father had smashed his spade through it, the shelter would have flooded each time it rained.

He describes the excitement mixed with fear of taking refuge in that shelter as the Nazi bombs fell from the sky overhead, and of the dramatic stories his father picked up from air raid wardens of the trail of death and destruction they left behind.

Westall described himself as a bad writer' from an early age. Drawing and painting were more suitable pursuits for his talents early on in his life.

Indeed, it was art he went on to study at Durham University and, later, at the University of London, before he became an art teacher at Sir John Deane's Grammar School (later Sir John Deane's College) in Northwich where he eventually became head of art.

He married his wife Jean and they had a son, Christopher, who was to provide the inspiration for his breakthrough as a writer.

Westall the author, however, was slow in emerging. He had a few pieces published by local newspapers early on, including a 4,000-word story about a student rebellion over the Soviet-Hungary crisis in London in 1956 in which he'd been caught up, published by the Newcastle Journal.

Later he sharpened his writing style as a freelance journalist (fitted in around his day job at the school), writing art reviews for his local newspaper in Northwich.

But while his journalism was crisp and to the point, he felt the novels he was writing were the work of a complete idiot', riddled with clichés.

It wasn't until 1973 when he was 44 that he began writing in earnest. He wanted to describe to his young son, Christopher, what it was like growing up in the North East during the Second World War.

That desire impelled him to write his first book, The Machine Gunners, now acclaimed as a classic of children's literature, and which went on to win him the prestigious Carnegie Medal.

The book has sold millions since it was published in 1975, and set Westall firmly on course to become one of Britain's finest children's authors. It was particularly bold in its use of strong language (unusual in children's literature at the time) and fearless approach to adult subjects.

Lindy McKinnel first met Westall at a children's party in Northwich in 1966 to which her twin daughters and Westall's son, Christopher, had been invited. The two families soon became friends.

Around this time, she began reading the articles that Westall - or Bob, as he was known to family and friends - wrote for local newspapers and magazines.

In time, Westall gave pieces of his writing to Lindy to read. She says the work varied a great deal, but she encouraged him with one manuscript he was working on in 1973.

It was The Machine Gunners, which had been written entirely in school exercise books.

She said: "I suggested that he try for publication. He sent it off to Collins who promptly turned it down.

"I felt incensed because it was such a good story but Macmillan took it, it won Bob his first Carnegie Medal in 1975 and has since become a children's classic."

Just as Westall's writing career was taking off, however, tragedy struck. In 1978, Christopher, by now aged 18, was killed in a motorcycle accident. It had a devastating effect on Westall and his wife.

The grief put an enormous pressure on their marriage, and in particular on Jean, who suffered from mental health problems. The couple separated, divorced and, ultimately, Jean committed suicide.

Westall threw himself into his work. In 1987, he moved to Lymm to live with Lindy, who had been widowed in 1969. Now retired, he was able to dedicate himself to writing full-time, as well as running an antiques shop and serving as a branch director of the Samaritans.

But it was nevertheless a fruitful period. The books poured out of him at the rate of four a year, with titles such as The Scarecrows (his second Carnegie Medal winner) and The Kingdom By The Sea. His international reputation was assured and he was inundated with bags of fan mail and calls to give lecture tours.

Westall and Lindy bought a cottage nearby in which he was able to do his writing in peace. Once Lindy retired from her job as a registrar in 1992, she became his literary assistant.

The couple settled into a happy routine of work and relaxation (usually a trip to the cinema). But it was to be short-lived. On April 15, 1993, Robert Westall, a heavy smoker, died in Warrington Hospital after a respiratory arrest. He was 63. His ashes were buried in Northwich.

His writing achievements, considering he didn't publish a book until he was 46, are considerable. He published 48 books and won many literary prizes besides his two Carnegie Medals.

For those interested in the life of this fascinating writer, there is a Robert Westall Gallery celebrating his life and work in his native North East, at Seven Stories Centre for Children's Books in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The Making of Me by Robert Westall, compiled and edited by Lindy McKinnel, is published by Catnip Books, priced £7.99.