Mollie Harris (born Mollie Woodley, 23 June 1913 – 2 October 1995) was an English actress and author, known for her appearances as village shopkeeper Martha Woodford in the

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

''.

Life

Mollie Woodley was born in

Ducklington Ducklington is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Windrush south of Witney in West Oxfordshire. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,581. History Ducklington is one ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

and raised in that county. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she became a writer and broadcaster for

, on programmes such as ''In The Country'', with

Phil Drabble Philip Percy Cooper Drabble (13 May 1914 – 29 July 2007) was an England, English wikt:countryman, countryman, author and television presenter (notably ''One Man and His Dog''). Brought up in the Black Country, he later lived in – and w ...

. She joined ''The Archers'' in 1970. and appeared as a castaway on the

programme ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

'' on 8 October 1983. Harris's books about her life in Oxfordshire, include her three-volume autobiography, ''A Kind of Magic'' (1969), ''Another Kind of Magic'' (1971) and ''The Green Years'' (1976). She wrote ''From Acre End'' (1982) about

Eynsham Eynsham is a village and civil parish in the West Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, about north-west of Oxford and east of Witney. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 4,648. It was estimated at 5,087 in 2020. Etymolo ...

, the village where she lived. Mollie Harris wrote the book "The Archers Country Cookbook", which did appear under the name of "Martha Woodford", and was for a while a country cook resident on BBC television programme ''

Pebble Mill at One ''Pebble Mill at One'' was a British television magazine programme that was broadcast live on weekdays at one o'clock on BBC1, from 2 October 1972 to 23 May 1986, and again from 14 October 1991 to 29 March 1996. It was transmitted from the Peb ...

''. She also wrote books about privies. She married Ginger Harris, a heating engineer, in 1937 and adopted his surname. He died in 1982. Harris died on 2 October 1995 in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. The painter

Gary Woodley Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;United States *Gary (Tampa), Florida *Gary, Ind ...

, who illustrated some of her books, was her cousin.

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *

References

1913 births 1995 deaths Actors from West Oxfordshire District Place of death missing 20th-century English actresses English radio actresses People from Eynsham Actresses from Oxfordshire 20th-century English non-fiction writers {{UK-writer-stub