It’s interesting you say that because, when I sent the poem to my editor, Charlotte, she said she has to take a photograph of her tongs turned off before she goes out.” Pam laughs. “That does seem to be taking it a bit far!” While she's thought of as a writer of humorous poetry, Ayres says not all the work she pens is funny. Ugh!” she groans. “It makes my flesh creep! I saw it in the newspaper in a petri dish and it looked like an enormous amalgamation of little worms.

If you don’t want to eat meat, then I respect that very much. But this is such a better way of doing it than going into a supermarket and buying any old lump of meat that might have come from Kazakhstan.” A beautiful collection from much-loved poet Pam Ayres, compiling her best verse dedicated to her love of animals, including brand new poems and illustrations Famous circles: Pam Ayers and comedian Tommy Cooper chat to the Duke of Edinburgh at the Royal Variety Gala in 1977People often ask me how audiences differ in Australia or France, but I don’t actually find that much difference,” she says. “After all, if you’re talking about how you wish you’d looked after your teeth, everybody feels the same, no matter where they come from!” Hidden beyond the bluebell woods and babbling brooks, there is great unrest in our countryside. In this lyrical satire, Pam Ayres highlights the undercurrents simmering beyond the patchwork of fields. We meet the angry fishermen who can't afford to live in their own villages, the indignant farmers who get the blame for everything and the old man grieving for the unspoilt village of his youth. The animals have their say too, from the persecuted grey squirrel who didn't want to leave America anyway, the barn owl mourning his now-converted ancient barn, and the humble maligned mole, all of whom come together and demand to know: Who Are You Calling Vermin? Read more Details Hugely," she replies. "It's a drug, of course, this performing. You can never come off it. It doesn't take long to get hooked. It's amazing to feel you can touch people just with words, and arranging them in a certain way. (They) have an amazing effect on an audience. I think we should all have smaller families: we should all just replace ourselves. Nobody wants to talk about that because it’s such a controversial subject; but if we limited the size of our families, we wouldn’t need so much food and we wouldn’t need to make this horrible slime in laboratories – but that doesn’t fit in with everybody’s culture. I’ve got two sons and I’ve loved having two sons and they were enough. I’m one of a family of six but times have changed since then.”

This definitive collection brings to life the charming characters and voices of all creatures great and small through Pam’s poetry over the past five decades and is perfect for all animal lovers. One of the funniest, most touching poems in this new collection is also animal-based. But, for once, it’s not about one of her own menagerie. The Racehorse Fred concerns a four-legged Grand National competitor who’s far from confident of his ability to stay the course. As a result, he’s making his will.

For BBC Radio, Pam has recorded six series of Ayres On the Air for BBC Radio 4, she is a regular guest on Just A Minute, and she is one of the comparatively few guests who have appeared twice on Desert Island Discs, the first time in 1979, and again in 2018. In March 2021 a new edition of Pam’s book, With These Hands, was re-issued by Ebury Press/Penguin Books. First published in 1997, this book includes many of Pam’s most popular earlier poems including Yes I’ll Marry You My Dear, Will I Have To Be Sexy at Sixty, The Wonderbra, and How Can That Be My Baby? Ayres has long been famed for delivering entertaining performances of her work. Does she still enjoy that? I think, 'If this is affecting me, it probably affects everyone else', and I try to express it in as few well-chosen words as possible. It might be the stress of giving a dinner party, getting depressed about the news and current affairs, or those irritations like restaurants and pubs serving food on pieces of slate, not plates. It's impractical because there's no edge, so the food falls off - and I worry about the hygiene. I’ve loved animals for as long as I can remember,” she says. “When I got my first rabbit, I was so thrilled; then I longed for a dog; and then I longed for a horse. I liked being with animals and looking after them and making them comfortable. It’s just the way I’m cut out.”

Of course, those performances are enlivened by her distinctive accent, which happily she's never seriously considered changing. From her very first encounter with a friendly golden Labrador at just three years old, Pam Ayres has been enchanted by animals. Now, for the first time, in this beautiful new illustrated work, she has gathered together her life's work of poems, new and old, dedicated to her love of them. Pam is the author of several best-selling poetry collections, including The Works, With These Hands, Surgically Enhanced, You Made Me Late Again!, and Up In The Attic. Much-loved poet and broadcaster Pam Ayres has brought together all the verse she has written about animals over the last five decades for a wonderful new book of poetry. Pam Ayers has been fascinated by animals since her first encounter with a friendly golden Labrador at the age of three. She has owned sheep, hens, and mischievous puppies, as well as fallen in love with British wildlife ranging from hedgehogs to bees.Pam had appeared three times for HM The Queen – at the Silver Jubilee Royal Variety Performance in 1977, at a Royal Gala Charity Reception at St. James Palace in 1996, when Pam, as the only entertainer, performed part of her solo stage show, and finally at Sandringham Women’s Institute in 2004, when the Queen attended in her capacity as President of the Sandringham WI. Subsequently, Pam was honoured to be awarded the MBE in Queen’s Birthday Honours of 2004.