Alumna’s creative journey: from banker to author

A knitted piece of fabric of sheep in a field and the sunshine in the sky on a blue background with green grass.

Jenny Care (Politics 1996) left academia briefly in the 1970s where she took a year off from study and joined Barclays Bank. Jenny then embarked on a non-traditional path. Romance and family followed, but her thirst for learning remained.

Jenny was inspired by her eldest child’s university application years later and returned to study Politics at Loughborough University. This was 21 years after her husband’s graduation. She juggled studies, parenting, and work, and earned her degree in 1996, followed by a master’s in history elsewhere where she achieved a Distinction in her final year.  

She started writing for the local newspaper, then for national magazines such as This England, Evergreen and Best of British. She then moved to the Forest of Dean which inspired her to research its’ history and evolved into writing books. This resulted in her writing six books on the region’s history. 

Jenny’s creativity did not stop there. To relax in between writing, she volunteered at a heritage centre where she explored knitting. Her works led Jenny to knit 234 poppy brooches one year which she enjoyed so much she turned the exercise into a small business.  

After this, she relocated to Wantage, South Oxfordshire where she has continued her literary pursuits, writing historical booklets and fiction. Her projects include a book on the Forest of Dean, a children’s story, and a murder mystery set in the Valley of the White Horse. Meanwhile, her knitting continues to flourish.  

Jenny’s story is inspiring for writers and knitters alike.