Helen Wood

Helen Wood, was the comedian Victoria Wood's mother. She was born as Ellen Mape in Prestwich in 1919. She was later given the name Helen Colleen and so was known initially as Ellen Mape, later as Helen Mape and informally amongst friends and acquaintances as Nellie Mape, later she was known by her married name Helen Wood. Nellie died in 2001, but in her later years she wrote an account of her childhood in Manchester between 1919 and 1933. After Nellie died her son Christopher (the politician Chris Foote Wood) edited this diary into 'Nellie's Book', which was published in 2006.