Baroness Ann Limb | Greater Mancunians

Photography by Hannah Cantrell

Baroness Ann Limb of Moss Side is a life peer in the House of Lords, rewarded for her work as an education specialist. The former Further Education College Principal, has since 2005, held Chair and Non-Executive Director roles across the public, private and charity sectors in economic development and education, housing and regeneration and arts and culture. From 2015-2021, Ann was Chair of The Scouts, for which she was awarded a DBE for services to young people, philanthropy and charity. She is currently Pro Chancellor, University of Surrey and Chair of City & Guilds Foundation, Lloyds Bank Foundation, and The King’s Foundation. In 2019, Ann was named #1 LGBTQ+ public sector role model in the OUTstanding List and as a Mancunian, one of the 50 most influential women born in the North of England in the Northern Power Women Power List. Motivated by her Quaker values, in 1998 she founded the Helena Kennedy Foundation where she is Vice President.

Ann was born in 1953 at Stretford Memorial Hospital. She spent her early years living with her family above a butcher’s shop at 102 Great Western Street, Moss Side. When she was five, the family moved to Hazel Grove in Stockport, where Ann attended Marple Hall Girls’ Grammar School.

The opportunity to serve as a life peer in the House of Lords is an experience my birth parents and grandparents would have deemed both inconceivable and incomprehensible. I look forward to my formal introduction to the House of Lords next year as Baroness Limb, of Moss Side in the City of Manchester. The North of England is where I lived for my first formative thirty years and, together with my birth family, has profoundly shaped the course of my life.

I have never sought political office. However, having been nominated by Sir Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister, I shall sit as a Labour peer in recognition of my own lifelong held principles. I am proud to acknowledge these are shared by my sister and my family as well as by my wife Maggie, whose parents and grandparents were Labour Party stalwarts. My grandfather-in-law, Wolverton railway worker Harry Cook JP, was the first Chair in 1917 of the North Buckinghamshire Labour Party. I’m proud to have been nominated to serve in the House of Lords and intend to devote myself to being a working peer. I want particularly to help take forward work on education and skills and social justice. This has been the focus of my working life over the last almost 50 years.

Baroness Ann Limb of Moss Side (Photo: PA)

Baroness Ann Limb describes her journey.

Martin aged 8

Great Western St / Kippax St, Moss Side - 1958

Moss Side in the mid 1950’s was dire, dirty and dreadful. I was brought up in my parent’s butcher shop on Great Western Street where, as a toddler, I helped serve customers and sweep sawdust coated linoleum floors. We lived above the shop where my younger, much longed for and cherished sister, Julie, was welcomed into the world in a ‘Call the Midwife’ style home birth. My first five years of life in Moss Side made me who I am today.

I was the 2,945,734th baby to be welcomed into the world by the National Health Service and, most likely, the first person I ever saw was a member of NHS staff. I benefitted from state education in a girls’ grammar school in Cheshire in the 1960’s and became the first person in my family to go to university because I received a full grant. This enabled me to live and study in Liverpool and then in France without incurring today’s tuition fee debts.

My love of being outdoors in the natural world, in countryside and mountains, by the sea, was nurtured by being in Brownies and Guides where I loved camping, collected more badges, and went on to become a Queen’s Guide. Being chosen in 2015 to become Chair of The Scouts was a deeply personal experience for me, reconnecting me to my own days in the movement. The experience also brought me into contact with the young people of the 21st century whose care and concern for each other, for others, for our communities, and for our planet continues to move me immeasurably.

I started teaching in 1976 as a part-time French and ESOL teacher in the then Wythenshawe College of Further Education, and city centre St John’s College - both now part of The Manchester College. For the last three years, it has been a huge privilege to return full circle to the city and to serve as Chair of Governors of The Manchester College. By 1986, aged 34, I found myself in Milton Keynes as College Principal there and subsequently 10 years later in the same role in Cambridge. My experience of Further Education is long, deep and enduring. I am proud to be the first ever FE College Principal to sit in the House of Lords.

Martin aged 8

Dame Ann Limb after being appointed a dame at Buckingham Palace in 2023

The matter of mental health and wellbeing so prevalent in society today troubles me greatly. Years of life changing therapy in my mid 30s-early 40's, as well as navigating deep depression in my late 40’s, strengthened my own emotional sinews and gave me a deeper understanding of myself and others. It continues to be my life’s work to ensure that my ego no longer gets seduced by what does not really matter in life. For me, the psychological and the spiritual are two sides of the same coin.

As a Quaker and as a peer, I shall be guided in all decisions I take by my faith, values, conscience and independence of mind. In accepting the title Baroness, I note that the substitution of an ‘e’ for the ‘o’ in the title is a constant and necessary reminder to me of the essential ‘bare-ness’ at the heart of humanity’s shared search for the universal spirit of life.

102, Great Western St, Moss Side. Ann's family lived above the shop in the 1950s

THE SHOOT : Moss Side & Stretford, Manchester

The ginnels behind Great Western Street, where Ann played as a child. On Kippax Street close to Manchester City's former Maine Road football ground where she attended games with her grandfather. Stretford Memorial Hospital where Ann was born in 1953.

Student reflection: Hannah Cantrell

Ann travelled up from Milton Keynes especially for the shoot, but the day began with an unexpected setback. Her train broke down just yards from the platform at Piccadilly Station, leaving passengers stranded for over an hour until the fire service safely assisted them off. As a result, we had to quickly rethink our schedule.

Despite my initial nerves about photographing someone I had never met, I needn’t have worried. Ann was warm, approachable, and immediately put me at ease.

We began by driving to Stretford to visit the now-abandoned hospital where Ann was born. Unfortunately, the security fencing around the building made it difficult to capture a strong image, so we moved on.

Next, we headed to Moss Side, starting at Kippax Street, near the site of Manchester City’s former Maine Road football ground. A lifelong fan, Ann proudly held her Man City scarf aloft beneath the street sign. These images are full of personality and convey a deep emotional connection to her early years in the area.

A short walk took us to the ginnels behind the shop on Great Western Street where Ann grew up. Here, I captured a series of portraits set against the backdrop of her childhood surroundings. Although the bright spring sunshine was challenging to manage, it ultimately added a sense of drama to the images. We also took the opportunity to photograph Ann outside the shop where she lived above in the early 1950s.

The shoot

Hannah & Ann

Our final location was at The Manchester College, city centre campus where Ann had previously served as Chair of Governors and where I am currently a student. She wanted a more formal portrait to finish the shoot, which provided a fitting contrast to the earlier images.

With the shoot complete, we returned to Piccadilly Station, this time for a far less eventful journey home for Ann.

I’m very pleased with the final images, particularly in how they reflect Ann’s down-to-earth personality. This Greater Mancunians project has been an incredibly rewarding experience and has helped me grow in confidence as a photographer.