The Brookside and Royle Family legend spoke to the ECHO in an exclusive interview about his new children’s book and his love for the city
Ricky Tomlinson spoke to the ECHO as he handed out copies of his new book to children from the local area(Image: Activate Digital )
Ricky Tomlinson may have turned 86, but he has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. The Royle Family legend has enjoyed a busier year than ever as he recently reprised his role as Bobby Grant for the Brookside one-off return and continues to tour around the UK and Ireland with his collaborator Asa Murphy.
However, he still remains as determined as ever as he told the ECHO in an exclusive interview: “I love working. I’d go anywhere at the drop of the hat because I love it. What else would I be doing at 86. I’d be sitting in the house or in nursing home.” He laughed: “I think [his wife] Rita’s trying to get me into one.”
But Ricky harbours no intentions of retirement as he wants to continue entertaining people and representing his beloved home city for as long as he can. He said: “I love Liverpool. I won’t hear a bad word. The only time I ever lose my temper is if I hear people slagging Liverpool off. I say, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ve never been there, you don’t know who the people are.”
Ricky’s continued creativity was on show today as he treated schoolchildren in Dingle to an experience to remember to kick off the run-up to Christmas. The comedy icon has penned a new children’s novel named Maggie and Jack and the Rusty Key.
Ahead of its release, Ricky gave a group of children from Matthew Arnold school a free copy at The Florrie in L8 this afternoon (November 20). Ricky was very much in the Christmas spirit as he read a passage from the book before he led a singalong of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.
Ricky Tomlinson and students from Matthew Arnold school at today’s event at The Florrie(Image: Activate Digital )
Speaking to the ECHO, Ricky explained why he always puts his face to community events such as this. He said: “I love kids and I love Christmas. I love this place, The Florrie. I can remember coming her and getting a round of toast for a pound.
“It’s like a beacon of light this place because everybody goes through a bit of a bad patch and this place is always open to anybody. If we don’t look after buildings like this, then we’re going to lose them. It’s not just that’s going to lose them, it’s kids from this area.
“There’s so much activity that goes on in here for children.” Ricky has named the book after his grandkids, Maggie and Jack, and said it was inspired from telling them stories when they stay at nan and grandad’s.
He said: “They come and stay with us every third or fourth weekend and stay in our house. Before they go to bed, I’ll read them a story. So I called the book after them and they’re thrilled to bits.
“They say can we have the next chapter now. Sometimes I haven’t written it so I’ve got to make it up as I’m going along. But that’s all part of the game.”
Ricky Tomlinson reads a passage from his new children’s book with the students(Image: Activate Digital )
Ricky said his main motivation for writing the book is to do something that makes people happy, as he laughed: “You don’t make any money. If people out there are thinking of writing children’s books, then forget it.” He added: “I love doing it. I enjoy getting the book printed.”
He continued: “You do it for the love of kids. I’ll send a box of books to Alder Hey, which I think is the best children’s hospital in the world. There’ll be kids who will be in the hospital for a month and they don’t know what to do. They can pick a copy of the book up and read a chapter.”
Goodwill gestures like this are emblematic of why Ricky is considered a national treasure and marks an another extraordinary chapter in his rollercoaster life, which included serving two years in jail following the 1972 builders’ strike. But Ricky wouldn’t change anything about his journey, as he reflected on his period of imprisonment, as he has since has since successfully cleared his name in the Court of Appeal in 2021.
He said: “It left me scarred. If I had to do it again, I would do it again because I worked on a site with 200 men and one toilet. By the way, nowhere to wash your hands.”
Ricky said the low moments have made him savour every day and is why he will always show his support for community events like today. He said: “That’s why I love everyday. Seeing them kids faces and hearing them singing. They don’t know who I am from Adam but that’s what I like about it.
“You can get them to join in, sing a song, and they’ve had their photograph taken. It’s a little experience for them. That’s what Liverpool is about. Come to Liverpool and have an experience.”