In 2007, Ayres acted in a radio sitcom, Potting On for Radio 4, co-starring Geoffrey Whitehead. [19] She wrote and recorded six series of her Radio 4 programme Ayres on the Air, the latest of which was broadcast in 2018. [18] [20] Pam Ayres was born in Stanford in the Vale, Berkshire (now administered as part of Oxfordshire), the youngest of six children (having four elder brothers and a sister) of Stanley and Phyllis Ayres. Her father worked for 44 years as a linesman for the Southern Electricity Board, having been a sergeant in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War. Ayres considered her upbringing "a country childhood"; she was raised in one of a row of small council houses. [2] [3] [4] The Magazine Monitor". 8 September 2006. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009 . Retrieved 16 August 2021– via news.bbc.co.uk. Recent TV appearances have included Morning Live, Alan Titchmarsh’s Love Your Weekend, This Morning, Would I Lie To You, and two series for Channel 5 TV, The Cotswolds with Pam Ayres. a b c Plomley, Roy (29 September 1979). "Pam Ayres". Desert Island Discs. BBC . Retrieved 13 April 2022. (from 12m0s on) I settled down to live in Witney, I had a flat there, a little flat. And then I started to go the local folk club, which is where I used to listen to all this wonderful folk music I'm so keen on. And then I started to write poems, because I wanted to stand up and do something, and my singing voice is not that hot. So I had a few poems, and I wrote a few more, and I used to stand up and recite those in the folk club, and as a result of that, anybody who was organising something charitable in the area tended to say "Would you come along too, Pam, and give us one of your famous poems?" And I had a T-shirt with 'Famous Broadcasting Personality' written across the front, so I used to put my FBP T on and recite some poems, and as a result of these charitable dos, a friend had a friend at Radio Oxford, and this friend said "Would you like me to suggest you for Radio Oxford?" & I said "Yes, please."

Pam Ayres' early childhood in Stanford in the Vale was idyllic in many ways, and typical of that experienced by a great swathe of children born in rural areas in the immediate post-war years. Though her parents' generation was harrowed by war, better times were coming. Everything the family needed was within walking distance in the village, and life with four older brothers and a sister in their crowded council house was exceedingly lively. Lewis, Roz (20 September 2011). "Pam Ayres reveals why Birmingham put her off Bob Dylan". Birmingham Mail . Retrieved 13 April 2022. I adored Dylan when I was 17, but I don't love him any more.Oliver, Gill (26 September 2011). "Interview with Pam Ayres". Oxford Mail . Retrieved 13 April 2022.

Pam Ayres: In Her Own Words (Acorn Media, March 2006); recorded live at The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham in September 2005 Pam Ayres is celebrated in the UK (and far beyond) as a favourite radio, TV and stage entertainer; it is impossible to read her comic poems without hearing her voice in your head. She says that she wrote them to be proclaimed out loud with gusto. Hidden beyond the bluebell woods and babbling brooks, there is great unrest in our countryside. In this lyrical satire, Pam Ayres highlights the undercurrents simmering beyond the patchwork of fields. We meet the angry fishermen who can't afford to live in their own villages, the indignant farmers who get the blame for everything and the old man grieving for the unspoilt village of his youth. The animals have their say too, from the persecuted grey squirrel who didn't want to leave America anyway, the barn owl mourning his now-converted ancient barn, and the humble maligned mole, all of whom come together and demand to know: Who Are You Calling Vermin? Read more Details In a 2006 interview (aired on Radio New Zealand's Nine To Noon programme, 24 October 2006), she stated that, at the age of twelve, she enjoyed writing parodies of the Lonnie Donegan songs popular at that time. [15] Career [ edit ] Young, Kirsty (5 August 2018). "Pam Ayres". Desert Island Discs. (from 11m40s on): Bob Dylan, I discovered him when I was 17 years old and for the first time in my life I felt it was music and songwriting that was relevant to me.... I felt as though he was talking to me, we were of similar age; and also, because I wanted to be a writer but I didn't know how to express it. He made me feel that I wanted to write my own things. I didn't ever want to write like Bob Dylan, I wanted to write my own things, and he accentuated that feeling.

In March 2021 a new edition of Pam’s book, With These Hands, was re-issued by Ebury Press/Penguin Books. First published in 1997, this book includes many of Pam’s most popular earlier poems including Yes I’ll Marry You My Dear, Will I Have To Be Sexy at Sixty, The Wonderbra, and How Can That Be My Baby?