Christine Clark: Inspired by the power of women, she fought for a better world

Britain would soon be on the cusp of a cultural and social revolution. The dour, dark days of 1950s austerity would be eclipsed by the hope and promise of the 60s.

But in 1961, aged 18, Christine Clark was already married and a mother. She would feel resentful as responsibility took precedence in her life while her friends remained free to embrace a changing society.

Yet in her late 30s, she emerged, after returning to education, as a campaigner for women's rights on a local, national, and international stage. She would fight for her beliefs outside a post office in Tameside, at a conference in Beijing, and against the perimeter fence of the RAF base at Greenham Common.

Tomorrow (Sunday January 7th) the Mossley-based feminist, environmental campaigner, and peace activist, who died last month, aged 80, will be remembered at a memorial meeting at Lawton Hall in the town in the foothills of the Pennines.

Her politics were forged by her personal circumstances. She did not come from a political stock. Her dad was a local bus driver and had had little education due to the First World War, whilst her mum came from a farming background, left school at 14 and was apprenticed as a seamstress at 15. Luckily, her mother was encouraged by a local doctor to return to education and, eventually, after completing a chemistry degree, became a pharmacist.

Christine was good at art but had learning difficulties and could not cope with the exam system. She later recalled in an interview with Lipstick Socialist: "My mum helped me with my English and Maths and I did get on a degree course at Leeds College of Art. But I fell in love with my teacher and became pregnant at 18 and had to get married. I knew nothing about contraception and went