Beach walk inspired children's tales of unlikely pals

"I noticed badgers had been on the beach. You could see their tracks," said Catherine, from Pontesbury.

"I was thinking, ' what were they doing on the beach and who would they meet while they were there?'"

It gave her the idea for some children's books featuring a badger and a crab as the main characters, which have now been published and have a topical aspect.

Although Badger and Crab have little in common, a sense of loyalty and conscience brings them together in an attempt to outwit the thoughtless schemes of humans.

"The books are aimed at seven to nine year old children, and are pinpointing environmental issues, but not in a terribly politically serious way, like what is it like for a badger to be forced out of his sett and for a crab to be hoicked out of his pool?

"And then there's plastic bags, and Badger and Crab rescue a seal pup who has become tangled up in plastic."

That tale is Badger and Crab To The Rescue, and the other book is Badger and Crab's Adventure. A third book, Badger and Crab and the Flood, is out shortly.

"The illustrator, Carol Davies, is from Shrewsbury - she has a studio in Barker Street."

Catherine, who has a pet dog and cat, has field cameras in her garden which pick up regular night-time visits by badgers and foxes.

Although she has written other books, this is her first venture into children's writing, and the first one was "road tested" on her grandson, who was eight when she wrote it, and is now 10.

"He enjoyed it. And they have been great fun to write. I enjoy animals anyway, and it was fun to make them into characters."

The books are in stock at Pengwern Books in Shrewsbury, but are also available through Amazon or through order at bookshops.

Catherine is retired and worked for several years in repertory theatre before joining the BBC television drama department, working on the first series of Dr Who and The Forsyte Saga.

For 34 years she was a magistrate in Shrewsbury, and her first published book "Josie" told the fictional story, albeit drawing on an amalgam of true life events, of an ordinary woman who finds herself pitched into the prison environment for a serious motoring offence.