A lasting connection
From island life to international stories
Ann Cleeves spent four formative years living on Hilbre with her husband Tim. In March 2023, she agreed to become patron of Friends of Hilbre.
Her relationship with the islands reaches far beyond a name on a letterhead. Hilbre was a home, a place of work and the setting in which her first published writing took shape.
The island years
A home governed by the tide
In January 1978, Ann’s husband Tim became custodian of the Hilbre island chain. A keen ornithologist and natural historian, he had previously worked for the RSPB on Bardsey Island.
Ann was studying social work at the University of Liverpool and became closely acquainted with the journey across the sands and the train from West Kirby. If the tide prevented a return, she stayed with friends on the mainland.
Island life also meant sharing practical responsibilities. The press release records that Ann helped operate the Coastguard radio and collected driftwood to supplement the household’s fuel. She and Tim lived on Hilbre for the first four years of their married life, and their daughter spent her first six months in Telegraph House.
Telegraph House
A family home without mains electricity or running water.
Tidal journeys
Daily life and mainland travel had to work around the estuary.
Coastguard radio
Ann helped with the communications that formed part of island life.
“I spent four happy years on the island with my husband.”
Writing life
The beginning of a remarkable career
While living on Hilbre, Ann wrote a chapter for Hilbre: The Cheshire Island, edited by Professor J. Craggs and published by Liverpool University Press. She describes it as her first published writing.
She went on to create the detectives Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn. Her work inspired the television series Vera, Shetland and The Long Call, taking stories rooted in distinctive landscapes to audiences around the world.
Crime writing
CWA Diamond Dagger
Ann received the Crime Writers’ Association’s Diamond Dagger in 2017, recognising sustained excellence and a significant contribution to crime writing.
Read the CWA record (opens in a new tab)Patron since 2023
Supporting Hilbre’s next chapter
When announcing the appointment, Friends chair David Gregson described Ann’s personal knowledge of Hilbre, its nature reserve, historic buildings and living history as an ideal fit for the charity.
The 2025 Chairperson’s Report records that Ann continued as patron. Specific patron activities are not attributed unless they have been recorded by the Friends.