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colouring pens in red, yellow, green, blue and black. With British standards quality mark. ONLY £2.50


70552 PUGWASH AND THE GHOST SHIP by John Ryan


The famous Black Pig, home to Captain Pugwash and his crew, is in desperate need of a spring clean. But what begins as a simple exercise in painting and decorating soon leads to a plot so dastardly that it looks as thought the Captain’s days are finally up. Luckily young Tom the cabin boy has a brainwave and so Pugwash, the most famous pirate of all, survives again to sail the Seven Seas. Based on the 1962 original with colour witty cartoon illus and large quality pages. £11.99 NOW £2.50


70554 PUGWASH IN THE PACIFIC by John Ryan


The Admiral is under strict orders from the Prime Minister to search the Seven Seas, capture Captain Pugwash and bring him back alive. Fortunately, far away on a sunny island in the middle of the Pacific, Captain Pugwash has no idea of the fearful fate which awaits him. The sky is blue, the sea is warm and the Captain and his crew are having a lovely time, but will they be able to evade the law for much longer? Based on the 1973 original, here is 2009 lavish, glossy paged hardback with all with all the witty colour cartoon illus. £11.99 NOW £4


70551 PUGWASH ALOFT by John Ryan Cut-Throat Jake and his band of rebels lurk dangerously nearby. Disaster strikes! Jake and his men board the ship and capture the crew which sends Captain Pugwash scuttling up the nearest mast for safety. How will he ever get out of this one? Fortunately Tom the cabin boy has a clever plan and the crew can finish their singing practice after all - with a rousing victory song. Reprint of the 1958 original with big bold colour cartoons. £11.99 NOW £3


GREAT BRITAIN


No people have true common sense but those who are born in England.


- Charles de Montesquieu


73891 LONDON UNDER: The Secret History Beneath the Streets


by Peter Ackroyd


With the immense Crossrail project taking shape below the streets of London as we speak, Peter Ackroyd’s wonderful short study of the history of what goes on under the capital is timely indeed. From original springs and streams and


Roman amphitheatres to Victorian sewers, gang hideouts and modern tube tunnels, gas, water and electricity pipes and cables, Ackroyd tunnels into the warm (yes, it is much warmer below than on top) murky depths, meeting the creatures, real and imagined, that dwell in the darkness - the rats, eels, ghosts and monsters. Here are the “toshers”, outcast subterranean scavengers of Victorian London who scoured the sewers by lantern- light for items of value, a Bronze Age trackway under the Isle of Dogs, the remains of Whitefriars Monastery under Fleet Street, the River Fleet itself, the capital’s underground river that flows from Hampstead to the Thames at the Temple, the immense tunnel containing pipes and cables for gas, water, electricity and telecoms that is accessed by a door beneath the statue of Boudicca by Westminster Bridge and much, much more. When the Metropolitan Underground line opened in 1864, guards grew beards to protect themselves from the fumes and named their infernal engines after tyrants, even dubbing one of them Pluto, after the god of the Underworld. Enter the hidden world of London’s history with the ever-entertaining Ackroyd. Photos and woodcuts, 230 roughcut pages. US first edition of 2011. $25 NOW £8.50


74082 CHELTENHAM by Stephen Morris


Readers have only to scan the list of contents to realise that here is a book with a difference. Some of its chapters describe well-known places, and some, such as ‘Walking’, ‘Water’ and ‘Spa’ are clear enough, but they might be puzzled by sections headed ‘Maturity’, ‘Madness’ and ‘Temperance’. All, however, becomes clear when they read the sparkling text and view the splendid photos. In the 18th century, when society had a passion for ‘taking the waters’, Cheltenham’s chalybeate springs were endowed with almost magical curative qualities by speculators anxious to emulate Bath’s legendary success. In what was still an obscure agricultural community below the Cotswold Hills a cabal of entrepreneurs raised fancy pump rooms in which the great and the good might dance, flirt and be cured of mostly imaginary diseases. With George III’s visit, Cheltenham became the most fashionable resort in England, where wealthy arrivals were greeted by a band in the street, and deposed European royalty took refuge. Today, Cheltenham remains England’s most complete Regency town, where the literature and music festivals, the racecourse and colleges continue to draw visitors. Here the essence of the town - its creamy-white villas, its elegant avenues, its lovely streets and its strange history are fully captured. 112 pages 27cm x 25.5cm in


gorgeous colour. £16.99 NOW £7.50


74228 LIVERPOOL CITY


CENTRE THROUGH TIME by Ian Collard


Although recorded in the Domesday Book in 1087, Liverpool was not mentioned in any Royal Charter until 1178 when the region was gifted to Henry II’s falconer, Warine de Lancaster. However, Prince John took a fancy to the waterfront area since, as Lord of Ireland, he needed


a port to ship troops and cargo across the Irish Sea. In 1207 the then King John created Liverpool as a Borough and port. It was not until the 17th century that the city began to grow on the profits of trade with America, importing tobacco and sugar and exporting textiles, and then further profiting from the slave trade in the 18th century. When slavery was abolished Liverpool continued to grow through trade with the US, the West Indies and Canada. The results of this fascinating history is shown here in this excellent collection of “then and now” photos and paintings of surviving buildings and recognisable parts of town, 85 locations in all. Ian Collard has clearly taken a great deal of effort with his “now” pictures, the comparisons are immediately recognisable and eye-catching. The Strand, Lime St, Parker St and Bold St, Exchange Flags, Blacklers department store, Beetham Plaza, the Pier Head, the Cunard Offices, the Victoria Building, the Olympia - just a few of the subjects of Collard’s comparisons, all with informative captions, lovely titbits of local knowledge and an excellent potted history. 96pp softback. £14.99 NOW £6


74043 PENRYN THROUGH


TIME by Ernie Warmington The Cornish port of Penryn is an attractive town with a lot of history and lies in a sheltered position at the head of the Penryn River, which flows into Falmouth Harbour. Once known as the Granite Port, it became an important shipping port for the Cornish granite and tin industries and was a rather well-to-


do place from the 13th century onwards. In this fascinating selection of over 180 colour and b/w photos we see the many ways in which Penryn has changed and developed over the past century - and, in some cases, how it has not! Ernie Warmington shows us plenty of “then and now” shots, with the shot in an old photo being replicated as closely as possible today. Here too are the docks, wharfs, shipping and the river, schools, old town dignitaries, sports teams, trains and the railway, roads, cars, buses and lorries, weddings, churches and a wealth of other local ephemera such as old bills, invoices, adverts, bill posters and newspaper cuttings. 96pp softback. £14.99 NOW £5


74168 SHAKESPEARE’S


LOCAL by Pete Brown Shakespeare’s local was the galleried, half-timbered George Inn at the head of Borough High Street next to the Globe Theatre, and though we have no idea whether the Bard ever really went there, it seems a safe bet that he did. In King John there is a reference to St. George swinging on the sign at Mine


Hostess’s door, which seems likely to be a reference. In the 16th century the George remained in the ownership of the Sayer family, burning down twice and being rebuilt with improved facilities. It would be frequented not only by actors but by people visiting the area for the celebrated bear-baiting which was one of the attractions of the South Bank. In 1634 the landlord Henry Blundell was in court before the Archdeacon for opening up during divine service on a Sunday. A follow-up raid six weeks later found the doors barred and sounds of revelry within, but unfortunately the results of the second court hearing are not recorded. In the 18th century three landladies in three generations were called Valentina, but the fourth-generation Valentina married well and moved out of tavern-keeping. In the 19th century it passed into the ownership of the Great North Railway company and today it is owned by the National Trust and is leased to the Greene King group. A rollicking and well-researched social history. 352pp, illus. £16.99 NOW £6.50


73824 THE ENGLISH LAKES: A History


by Ian Thompson


The Lake District is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful and certainly the most dramatic parts of England, but it was not always thus. In 1722 Daniel Defoe remarked on the “inhospitable terror” of the “high and formidable” peaks and was of the opinion that upon reaching the


“unpassable hills” of Westmorland “all the pleasant part of England was at an end”. There were many other travel writers of the period who held a similar opinion, but a strange combination of events saw the Lake District’s popular image transformed in the space of 50 years. The Georgians had developed a fascination with the Alps, but the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars made travel there impossible. So, our budding mountaineers turned their attentions closer to home, providing the spark for a national and international love affair with the Lakes. Add to this the arrival of the likes of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey and De Quincey and their transformation from a region of “horrid mountains” to one of “vales of peace” was complete. Over 20 million people a year visit the Lake District, and one of the questions Ian Thompson tackles here is how, given this pressure, has it managed to retain its natural beauty and tranquillity? What is the source of its magnetic attraction and how did it come to exert its spell? As well as the poets, artists, climbers, conservationists and storytellers like Turner, Ruskin, Beatrix Potter and Arthur Ransome have added to our perception of this magical place, and how could we not mention the legend that is Alfred Wainwright, who did


more than anybody to get over to people how special a place it is. Crammed with fascinating details and a lifetime’s observations and superb colour photos from the author, plus paintings, etchings and archive photography. 343pp, US edition. $45 NOW £8.50


74224 EMPIRE HALTS HERE: Viewing the Heart of


Hadrian’s Wall by Stan Beckensall


The Roman army had conquered most of Britain by the time it moved to what is now Cumbria and Northumberland. The plan was probably to occupy and Romanise the whole island, but this was abandoned after many attempts and a frontier was drawn. In one sense,


Hadrian’s Wall marks a failure to control the land north of it. However, the Wall was not only a barrier but also a springboard for attack. The building of this frontier was also prompted by the fact that there were thousands of troops in the North that needed to be kept busy and focused so that, when they were not fighting, they were building. The Wall was massively tall, still surviving to three metres at its greatest height, with two turrets equally spaced between mile castles - all with garrisons and connections with each other by road, track and signals. To have built a wall of this size and length was an awesome achievement, recorded here in informative photographs that explore in detail its different features in the places where they best survive. Here is a replica wall at Vindolanda, which gives a sense of overpowering scale. Here is the great Whin Sill outcrop - a series of basalt pillars in clusters that were once volcanic lava oozing along the fault lines in sandstones and limestones, cooling quickly so that the rock rapidly crystallised and became very tough. This produced rock that was used in places to make a core for the Wall. 159 paperback pages very lavishly illustrated in colour plus a section giving details of the country through which the wall passes. £16.99 NOW £6


74225 FOUNTAINS ABBEY


THROUGH TIME by Alan Whitworth


Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire is a huge medieval complex of outstanding beauty, with dramatic ruins set against a wooded hillside and the River Skell. Founded in the 12th century to house a community of Cistercian monks, it was a self- sufficient estate based on a sheep-


farming business run by the lay brothers. In this fascinating pictorial collection, almost 100 old postcards are reproduced side by side with modern photographs of the same scenes. The result is not only an unrivalled tour of the ruins and surrounding country, but a documentation of how the building and its setting have changed over the past 100 years. The spectacular vista of round arches down the nave aisles has remained the same, though in the modern photo the foliage obscuring the west window has been cut away to reveal the magnificent design. The worn stairs up to the refectory are still evocative of thousands of users over the centuries. A number of coats of arms and rebuses have been restored, and the reredorter, or communal toilet area, has been preserved in excellent condition. A superb 13th century arcade of trefoil heads on detached shafts of Nidderdale marble has been cleaned up and can now be seen in all its impressive complexity. 96pp, paperback, almost 200 colour photos, historical commentary.


£14.99 NOW £6


73970 LONDONERS: The Days and Nights of London Now As Told By Those Who Love it, Hate It, Live It, Left


It and Long For It by Craig Taylor


In an epic oral portrait in 80 voices, an acclaimed writer and editor succeeds in producing a fresh and compulsively readable


autobiography of the inhabitants of


one of the world’s most fascinating cities. Together, these voices paint a vivid and wholly original picture of 21st century London from Notting Hill to Brixton, from Piccadilly Circus to Canary Wharf, from an airliner flying into Heathrow Airport to Big Ben and Tower Bridge, and down to the deepest tunnels of the London Underground. Whatever their origin, they are grinding and conniving, snatching free evening newspapers, speaking into smart phones, complaining, sweeping floors, tending to hedge funds, pushing empty pint glasses, marching, arguing, drinking, kneeling, swaying, huffing at those who stand on the left-hand side of the escalator, moving, moving, always moving’. Here is a West End rickshaw driver, a nightclub door attendant, a mounted soldier of the Queen’s Life Guard at Buckingham Palace, a squatter, a dominatrix, a street cleaner and dozens more - including a couple who fell in love at the Tower of London and now live there! With candour and humour, this diverse cast - rich and poor, old and young, native and immigrant, men and women, and a Sarah who used to be a George -share indelible tales that capture the city as never before. 413 rough cut pages with coloured map and sketch map of districts. $29.99 NOW £6


74230 SALTAIRE THROUGH TIME by Gary Firth and Malcolm Hitt


Titus Salt revolutionised Victorian working life with his vision of a model town, offering good quality housing and a wide range of amenities for mill workers. Today the world heritage site is a major tourist attraction, with a permanent exhibition of David Hockney’s work


in the old mill, retail and food outlets and educational events. This fascinating book puts the old and the new


Great Britain 5 “How Do?” Brummie Books


for Black Country booklovers 74035 BIRMINGHAM SPORTS & RECREATION:


From Old Photographs by Eric Armstrong and Rosemary Stafford For the reasons previously explained in the sister volume to this (Old Birmingham Shops Cat. No. 74042) the industrialised Midlands saw its economy boom in the 19th century. As well as


more spending power, this also meant a reduction in the length of most workers’ working week and this increased leisure time brought more opportunities to take part in and promote sport and entertainment. By 1900 three professional teams were established in the Football League - Aston Villa, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion. Edgbaston had become the home of Warwickshire CCC and was a Test venue by 1902, and other ball games such as rugby, hockey, netball and tennis flourished. Many swimming pools and gymnasiums were also built around the turn of the century and swimming, gymnastics, weightlifting and boxing became very popular as a result. Cinemas, music halls and theatres popped up all over the city and suburbs, attracting impressive numbers of patrons, and the rivers and lakes soon filled up with boats in the summer and skaters in the winter. All of these sports and entertainments were popular subject matter for local photographers and postcard makers, and here over 200 b/w images with knowledgeable, witty captions describe all these then new leisure pursuits, in another marvellous wallow in nostalgia for all senior Brummies out there. 128pp softback. £12.99 NOW £6


74042 OLD BIRMINGHAM SHOPS: From Old Photographs


by Eric Armstrong During the 19th century Britain experienced immense industrial growth and became a major world power. This in turn brought much in the way of economic improvement and a wide variety of imports and a demand for more


and better quality goods saw the number of shops to cater for the public’s needs rise rapidly. Birmingham was by this time a major industrial centre and the city’s shopkeepers catered for their many customers in every way, from groceries to cycling equipment and umbrellas to jewellery. The period of the 20th century before the Great War was known as “the golden age of postcards”, and as well making cards of typical street scenes from Britain’s towns, photographers were engaged by shopkeepers to produce postcards of their emporia and goods as these were regarded as upmarket advertising likely to appeal to an affluent clientele. A century later the legacy of the popularity of postcards is a magnificent treasure trove of photographic history, and here are around 200 cards and associated ephemera reproduced in their original b/ w with often extensive explanatory captions. 128pp softback.


£12.99 NOW £6.50


74232 SMALL HEATH AND SPARKBROOK: Through Time by Ted Rudge and Keith Clenton


This nostalgic selection of more than 180 photographs traces some of the ways in which two adjacent inner city districts of Birmingham changed and developed over the last century. By the turn of the 20th century, Small Heath and Sparkbrook had


been transformed from a rural environment to an urban one. Two vibrant shopping areas had evolved, surrounded by Victorian properties of working class back-to-backs and middle class terrace housing. Birmingham City FC dominates the city end of Small Heath while, at the other end, Small Heath Park continues to attract visitors to the only major green space in the area. The most historical and oldest building, The Farm, can still be found in Sparkbrook. Unlike other inner-city areas, no large scale redevelopment has taken place in either district, leaving a mixture of modern and as-built properties in both areas. The physical layout may have changed little but there have been major demographic changes. In the 1950s and 60s, many Irish and West Indian families settled locally, whilst today the greater part of the population is Kashmiri, or Pakistani or Somalian Brummie. 96 paperback pages very lavishly illustrated in colour and sepia/white. £14.99 NOW £5


together by showing photos of Saltaire today side by side with snaps and postcards dating to the time before the mill was closed in the 1970s. Titus Street is one of the main thoroughfares and the workers’ cottages have attractive architectural detail on the windows and doors. A belvedere or tower breaks the roofline at No. 47, but it is thought that its purpose was nothing more sinister than fire-watching. When the mill first opened in 1853, 2,500 workers were transported by railway every day, and a print of mill girls in Victoria Road around 1880 shows a huge crowd wearing shawls arriving at the entrance. The mill itself is an architectural gem, with an Italianate south front matching the classical portico of the congregational church opposite. A cricket field, gymnasium, Sunday school, bandstand, almshouse, boathouse, hospital and infant schools were among the amenities offered by this forward-looking employer and philanthropist. 96pp, paperback, over 180 photos in sepia and colour. £14.99 NOW £6


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