GIGGLESWICK’S Sita Brand has been making stories happen in Settle and beyond for almost 10 years through her work with arts charity Settle Stories, and this month she is treading the boards once again and sharing her own personal story.

Sita was born in Bombay and lived in India until she was a teenager, facing all the usual challenges of growing up. In the show, she will transport her audience to the dusty, crowded and vibrant world, sharing traditional Indian folk tales from her childhood.

There will also be darker side to her performance, as she recalls more painful memories, including her father’s exodus from Burma at the outbreak of the Second World War and the Indian Emergency of 1975 which saw Rita and her family leave India for Britain.

“We lost all our rights - there was no free press, there was no freedom of religion, there was no freedom of movement and there was no freedom of speech. That was a formative time in my life” said Sita.

She originally lived in Scotland, but decided to make Craven her home after visiting a family friend in Settle.

“I just knew I wanted to live here. I loved the landscape with its hills and managed to persuade my husband, Graham, to ‘up sticks’ to move to Giggleswick,” she said.

Memories of an Indian Childhood will be at The Joinery, Settle, on Sunday (October 20). It will also be at Lancaster, Wakefield, Lytham St Annes and Huddersfield. For tickets, visit: settlestories.org.uk/memories-of-an-indian-childhood-19 or call 05603 845693