Search results for ""the history press ltd""

This chilling volume brings together more murderous tales that shocked not only the county but made headline news throughout the nation. Covering the length and breadth of Buckinghamshire, the featured cases include the brutal slaying of a family of seven in Denham in 1870, the killing of a butcher’s wife in Victorian Slough for which no one was ever found guilty, a double shooting at Little Kimble and a killing near Haddenham in 1828, in which a letter written a year later sealed the killers’ fate, and the doctor who disappeared in 1933 and whose decomposed corpse was found in Buckinghamshire woods the following year. This well-illustrated and enthralling text will appeal to everyone interested in true-crime history and the shadier side of Buckinghamshire’s past.

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Harold Lowe, Fifth Officer of RMS Titanic, was described by another survivor as ‘the real hero of the Titanic.’ After taking an active role in the evacuation, Lowe took command of a raft of lifeboats, distributing passengers among them so he could return to the wreckage and look for survivors – the only officer to do so. He succeeded in raising a sail, rescued the drenched inhabitants of a sinking lifeboat and towed another boat to safety. Lowe had a long and fascinating life at sea. The tragic sinking of the Titanic was only the most notorious incident in a career that took him as a fifteen-year-old runaway to the coast of West Africa and into action in Siberia during the Russian Revolution. Titanic historian Inger Sheil has worked closely with Lowe’s family to compile a gripping biography of this heroic Welshman.

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This is a hard-hitting account of growing up in Newcastle's West End during the uncertain years of the First World War and the Depression. Samuel Herbert had to grow up fast when his mother moved the family to a cockroach-infested tenement in Elswick while his Dad — a miner — was away fighting on the front line. Along with the shared ‘netties’ and the terrible living conditions, Samuel learned how to deal with the bullies and the gangs until he grew as tough as they were. His fight to get out of this poverty-stricken existence was always hindered by something and he continuously ended up back in that same sorrowful place called The Avenue. Along with the tragedy, however, came lots of laughs, and Samuel’s unique account demonstrates the humour, courage and indomitable spirit of the local population. Prepare to be amused and entertained, surprised and moved by these stories, which vividly capture the heart and heritage of this former mining community.

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Taking you through the year day by day, The Newcastle Book of Days contains quirky, eccentric, amusing and important events and facts from different periods in the history of the city. Ideal for dipping into, this addictive little book will keep you entertained and informed. Featuring hundreds of snippets of information gleaned from the vaults of Newcastle’s archives and covering the social, criminal, political, religious, industrial, military and sporting history of the region, it will delight residents and visitors alike.

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This is not a guidebook. This little book brings together past and present to offer a taste of Kensington & Chelsea. Learn about the movers and shakers who shaped this fantastic royal borough. The great and the good; the bad and the ugly. Small wonders, tall stories, TRIUMPH and tragedy. Best places – worst places. Local lingo, architecture, green spaces, events, traditions, fact, fiction. Origins, evolution, future. Written by a local who knows what makes KENSINGTON & CHELSEA tick.

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Samuel Herbert Dougal was intelligent, talented, and the recipient of a military medal. Outwardly, he seemed to embody all that Victorian England valued most. But he was also a career criminal whose appetite for sex and money propelled him through scandal after scandal; through the courts, prisons and asylums; and from woman to vulnerable woman. In 1903, the unexplained disappearance of Dougal’s latest inamorata, a wealthy spinster named Miss Holland, began to excite public speculation. A tireless hunt for the missing lady commenced, but, having been arrested on a sample charge of forgery, Dougal simply decided to wait it out. Meanwhile, on the outside, his real wife, Sarah, who had been the beneficiary of Dougal’s schemes over the course of a decade, had her own plans to escape official scrutiny. Would Miss Holland’s whereabouts be discovered? And who, if anyone, would be held to account for her disappearance?

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This is not a guidebook. This little book brings together past and present to offer a taste of DURHAM. Learn about the movers and shakers who shaped this fantastic city. The great and the good; the bad and the ugly. Small wonders, tall stories, TRIUMPH and tragedy. Best places – worst places. Local lingo, architecture, green spaces, events, traditions, fact, fiction. Origins, evolution, future. Written by a local who knows what makes DURHAM tick.

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Britain’s great battlefield generals of the Second World War like Montgomery and Slim would have failed had not General Sir Ronald Adam been appointed Adjutant-General in 1941. As the army’s second most senior officer, he was responsible for providing the man- and womanpower for battle. He revolutionised recruitment practices and introduced scientific selection procedures to find the officers, NCOs and technicians that a modern army needed. Adam also recognised that soldiers needed to believe in the cause they were fighting for. This too led to controversy when the soldiers began to debate political issues about post-war Britain. Did Adam’s espousal of such discussion groups lead to the Labour landslide in 1945? How did this career soldier of conventional background, when given the authority, come to tread on so many toes, kick so many shins and break up so much of the War Office’s most revered items of mental and organisational furniture? This book reveals the true story of a Modern Major-General. Roger Broad has worked as an international journalist for the Financial Times, Economist Intelligence Unit, editor for European Community magazine and the UK press officer for the European Commission in the 1960s. Broad served as the UK head of the European Parliament and authored of European Dilemmas: From Bevin to Blair (Palgrave, 2001) and Conscription in Britain 1939-1964: The Militarisation of a Generation (Routledge, 2006). He also spent his National Service serving with the Royal Army Educational Corps.

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Cheshire is a county that associates with the giants of English literature, such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Wierdstone of Brisingamen, but how did these fabulous tales develop from a supposedly flat county of boggy, cheese-making plains? This book uncovers some of the surprise and charm hidden in the folds of this unassuming landscape. For hundreds of years, Cheshire folk have been quietly telling their own tales about some of Britain’s great heroes, as well as wrestling with their own demons, dragons and boggarts. Let the Journey Man guide you along the canals, through the forests and safely past the sniddlebogs to some surprisingly spectacular heights where you can experience Cheshire’s own heroes alongside its eccentric traditions and fast-disappearing dialect. It’s not all salt and cheese… The Journey Man is an internationally travelled storyteller who has settled in Cheshire. He has been telling stories for some twenty years, and has been given the opportunity to gather and retell the folk tales and history of Cheshire. He now visits schools throughout the North West of England, as well as leading storytelling walks for all ages.

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W.H. Johnson digs deep into Sussex’s past, presenting the reader with centuries of criminality and vice, of wretched living conditions and blind fate which so often leads to appalling consequences. A Grim Almanac of Sussex chronicles the darker side of life in the county. This is a never-ending parade of woe, horror and misfortune: dreadful rail accidents, public executions, murderers, robbers, drunkards and general ne’er-do-wells all feature. If it’s macabre, if it’s ghoulish, if it’s bizarre, then it’s here!

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In 1933, at the age of 15, George Dunn left the small Welsh mining village of Blaina for St Albans in Hertfordshire as part of the government’s Labour Exchange Scheme. After marrying a local girl, he was conscripted into the Royal Engineers during the Second World War, and was part of the Dunkirk Evacuation in 1940. Now aged 92, he has seen three generations of his family grow up in Hertfordshire. This is the story of his life – from Wales to St Albans to active service and home again to Hertfordshire – with reflections on how life in the twentieth- and twenty-first century has changed. In this poignant book, the author shares vivid memories of his life in Hertfordshire and his wartime experiences. From touching recollections of enjoyable days spent with loved ones to the dark moments of falling bombs, this is an honest account of one man’s life. Together with rare images, this book is a personal and moving story.

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Haunted Doncaster contains a selection of the reported sightings and stories from ordinary people in Doncaster who believe they have had an extraordinary experience. The majority of the haunted locations in this book have been investigated first-hand by the authors, who give the reader an insight into their experience and provide information about the stories behind the alleged sightings. Each tale is accompanied by an atmospheric black-and-white photograph. This book is aimed at anyone interested in the spectres that inhabit Doncaster’s homes, pubs, and highways.

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1066 is the one date in British history that every schoolchild knows. The victory of William the Conqueror over King Harold at Hastings, and the subsequent imposition of Norman rule over the whole of England and Wales, effectively marked the creation of the country as we know it today. A surprising number of historic sites from this turbulent period survive: battlefields, castles, churches, monasteries. Peter Bramley’s beautifully illustrated field guide and companion to the Norman Conquest gives full details of both the events and the personalities associated with each of these sites, together with the historical background and the reasons for the end of Anglo-Saxon rule. Arranged by region, it covers England, Wales and Normandy, and provides invaluable information for anyone visiting or planning to visit any of the sites connected with the Conquest, as well as anyone interested in the history of this period in general.

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The Battle of the Aisne fought in September 1914 introduced a new and savage mode of warfare to the soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force, their French allies and to the German Army. Both officers and men were trained to fight mobile wars. When they reached the north bank of the Aisne, the ‘Old Contemptibles’ would be stopped by the Germans entrenched on high ground, armed with machine guns and supported by heavy artillery. The British commanders would naively send their troops on futile assaults up slopes devoid of cover to attack the German lines dug in on the ridges along the Chemin des Dames and concealed by woodland. The British did not even have grenades. The BEF suffered 12,000 casualties. Their commanders, who were not trained to fight a modern war, were lost for a solution or even a strategy. It was on the Chemin des Dames that the first trenches of the Western Front were dug and where the line that would stretch from the Swiss frontier to the North Sea began. The Battle of the Aisne saw the dawn of trench warfare and a stalemate that would last for the next four years. Wide-ranging archival research by author Paul Kendall makes this the first in-depth study of the battle in print. His correspondence with surviving relatives of those who fought brings a human face to the terrible casualty statistics that would come to define the trenches.

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Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in the world – with one of the darkest histories on record. Sweeping through the centuries in a blood-soaked catalogue of assaults, assassinations and all-out attempts at annihilation, this volume reveals the hideous tapestry of death, disease and disaster that lies beneath Edinburgh’s stunning façade. You’ll never see the city in the same way again…

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For the unwary visitor, Hereford appears to be a peaceful place. But, for half its existence, it was a strategic centre in an often troubled and bloody border between England and Wales. It can be no surprise, then, that the city and the surrounding countryside hide dark secrets and uncanny events. From the ghost of a verger who brought down the cathedral tower to the unquiet spirit of a careless chemist, the city has a rich history of spectral phenomena. This book is no mere gazetteer, but an in-depth re-telling of the stories that will make you look at the place with fresh eyes, whether you are a tourist or resident.

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Chatham is a town steeped in history and strange folklore, but much of its ghostly past, and present, remains unwritten. For the first time ever the spectral secrets of this place are uncovered as we delve into ghost stories obscure and well known. The book features an array of haunted houses and shops, and sheds new light on classic local legends at locations like Chatham Dockyard and Fort Amherst. Many stories appear for the first time in print, with information gained first-hand from witnesses who’ve experienced the phenomena. Richly illustrated, Haunted Chatham is your guide to one of Kent’s most supernatural places.

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The Second World War widows were the ‘forgotten women’, largely ignored by the government and the majority of the population. The men who died in the service of their country were rightly honoured, but the widows and orphans they left behind were soon forgotten. During the war and afterwards in post-war austerity Britain their lives were particularly bleak. The meagre pensions they were given were taxed at the highest rate and gave them barely enough to keep body and soul together, let alone look after their children. Through their diaries, letters and personal interviews we are given an insight into post-war Britain that is a moving testament to the will to survive of a generation of women. The treatment of these war widows was shameful and continued right up to 1989. This is their story.

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Everything you ever wanted to know about the Second World War, from the highest-rated fighter aces to the most inventive escape equipment used to break out of Colditz; from army pay by rank to the largest battleships; from the most stirring speeches to the biggest tactical errors; from the strangest regimental mottoes to the plays most performed by ENSA; and from the dates each country joined the war to the most unlikely spies. All the major events and dates in the war are covered in detail, but equal emphasis is placed on the human experience of combat. Often poignant and always revealing, World War II: the Book of Lists offers a unique insight into the deadliest conflict in human history.

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The Little Book of Norfolk is a repository of intriguing, fascinating, obscure, strange and entertaining facts and trivia about one of England’s most colourful counties. It is an essential to the born and bred Norfolk folk or anyone who knows and loves the county. Armed with this fascinating tome the reader will have such knowledge of the county, its landscape, people, places, pleasures and pursuits they will be entertained and enthralled and never short of some frivolous fact to enhance conversation or quiz! A reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped in to time and time again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage, the secrets and the enduring fascination of the county. A remarkably engaging little book, this is essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

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From eyewitness accounts of unexplained sightings to the search for evidence of ghosts, this book features over fifty chilling tales of ghostly encounters from around Wearside. Featuring the ghostly nuns of Franklin Street, a headless horseman in Newcastle Road, and the phantoms who haunt the Royal Infirmary, Haunted Wearside is guaranteed to make your blood run cold. Richly illustrated and drawing on historical and contemporary sources, this collection will delight everyone interested in the paranormal.

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Winding its way from Winchester to Canterbury, through the counties of Hampshire, Surrey and Kent, can still be found one of England’s most ancient trackways. Well trodden and beloved of walkers throughout southern England, the Pilgrims’ Way serves as a hidden by-way linking those that travel along it with some of the countries oldest cathedrals, castles and abbeys, yet it remains an enigma to many of those who regularly follow its tracks. From the Neolithic through to the Victorian pilgrimists, Derek Bright brings together a mass of evidence and re-evaluates how we should view this ancient trackway that Ivan D. Margary described as one of the most important in Britain. Using evidence of roadside crime, prohibitive legislation, and the everyday hazards facing wayfarers, he makes decisive arguments for how the road has served travellers over time.

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The band playing ‘Nearer my God to Thee’ as the ship went down is probably one of the most famous stories relating to the Titanic. The bravery of the band and their leader, Wallace Hartley, is one of the endearing stories to come out of the worst disaster to happen to a British passenger liner. Who comprised the band? Who was Wallace Hartley and where did he come from? Not much has been written about this enigmatic band leader or of his part in the tragedy, beyond a few mentions in the many books on the disaster. But he was one of the most important characters in the story of Titanic. Yvonne Speak has spent years researching the life story of Wallace Hartley and has conducted interviews with remaining members of his family. Here she tells his story and remembers this most British of heroes.

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There’s never a dull moment in this entertaining collection of experiences as Geoff Body and Bill Parker present often hilarious highlights from the careers of railwaymen around Britain over the last fifty years. Featuring daring robberies, royal visits, lost passengers, bomb scares, coffins, circus trains and ladies of the night, it chronicles both successes and disasters, with accounts of moving a farm and a circus, 245 miles of marooned railway, footplate adventures, animal capers and many equally fascinating subjects. Geoff Body and Bill Parker both enjoyed long careers on the railways and they have brought together this assortment of memories from all parts of the country. Signal Box Coming Up, Sir! is an entertaining and instructive journey for anyone with an interest in life on the railways.

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Discover the spooky side of Bolton with this terrifying collection of true-life tales from across the town. Featuring eyewitness accounts from a haunted room, sealed up for forty years at the Blue Boar pub, to the ghostly female resident at the Old Duke and the Westhoughton poltergeist, this book includes pulse-raising narratives that are guaranteed to make your blood run cold. Richly illustrated, and featuring eyewitness interviews and previously unpublished investigation accounts carried out by the authors and the Lancashire Hauntings team, Haunted Bolton will send a chill up the spine of all who read it.

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The Little Book of Sussex is a funny, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium of the sort of frivolous, fantastic or simply strange information which no-one will want to be without. Here we find out about the most unusual crimes and punishments, eccentric inhabitants, famous sons and daughters and literally hundreds of wacky facts (plus some authentically bizarre bits of historic trivia). David Arscott’s new book gathers together a myriad of data on Sussex. There are lots of factual chapters but also plenty of frivolous details which will amuse and surprise. With chapters on folklore, history, geography, celebrity Sussexians and much more, this is an ideal book for all those who know and love this quintessentially English county.

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During the First and Second World Wars thousands of men and women refused the call to arms. Reviled, starved and beaten, theirs was a battle of conscience. In the First World War, seventy-three conscientious objectors died as a result of their treatment, and hundreds more were imprisoned. During the Second World War, many conscientious objectors performed other, non-combatant duties with great heroism, including bomb disposal, and joining the fire service and ambulance crews. Unable to turn a blind eye to the dark realities of war, these men and women, who came from all classes and backgrounds, wrestled with their moral values, and their struggles, motivations and stories are brought together in this moving and challenging history of war’s outcasts.

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With the country’s oldest university and the ruins of both a magnificent castle and one of the grandest cathedrals of medieval Europe, St Andrews is one of the most beautiful and historic places in Scotland. But it’s also one of the most haunted. Here are investigations into St Andrews’ most famous ghost (the White Lady) and its most famous paranormal location (the Haunted Tower, with its real-life Victorian mystery of mummified bodies); the numerous phantoms, historical and contemporary, that appear to cluster around the medieval quarter of The Pends and St Leonard’s School; and spectres of castle and cloister, town and gown. There is also the Pitmilly House poltergeist, whose fire-raising activities resulted in a payout by an insurance company. Join paranormal expert Geoff Holder in an exploration of the darker side of St Andrews.

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Drawing on his detailed knowledge of the city’s history, in this book Brian Lee takes the reader on a pictorial journey of the Cardiff of yesteryear. A fascinating selection of archive postcards has been chosen to reflect the changing fashions and pastimes in the city. They also show changes in types of transport, and the developing character of streets and districts as they took on the form that is familiar today. Informative captions accompany the images to relate the history of the people and buildings. Including chapters on the castle, civic centre, city-centre streets, parks, religion, transport, the docks, leisure and sport and also the 1909 Pageant of Wales, this book is sure to enthral anyone who knows and loves this vibrant city.

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The post-war era was British speedway’s golden age. Ten million spectators passed through the turnstiles of a record number of tracks at the sport’s peak. With league gates as high as 80,000, speedway offered a colourful means of escape from the grim austerity of the times. A determinedly clean image, with no betting and rival fans mingling on the terraces, made speedway the family night out of choice. The sport thrived despite punitive taxation and Government threats to close down the speedways as a threat to industrial productivity. A three-division National League stretched from Exeter to Edinburgh and the World Championship Final attracted a capacity audience to Wembley. Test matches against Australia provided yet another international dimension. Even at the height of its popularity, speedway was a sporting edifice built on unstable foundations, which crumbled alarmingly as the 1950s dawned and Britain’s economic and social recovery brought competing attractions like television.

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E.J. Rudsdale’s role as a museum curator and air-raid shelter superintendent at Colchester Castle during the Second World War gave him the perfect opportunity to record life on the Home Front in his journals. Seventy years later, the selected extracts gathered here provide a remarkable insight into wartime life. Rudsdale’s writing is characterised throughout by his wry observations of wartime officialdom and his lack of conformity with the prevailing views of the time. He was a pacifist, which gives his journals an unusual perspective. However, even as a civilian he could not escape the conflict, living in a garrison town threatened by invasion and regular bombing raids. His journals, therefore, record anxious and tragic events, but throughout it all his sense of humour is never diminished.This absorbing collection demonstrates Rudsdale’s ability to bring a scene vividly to life and each account highlights the daily pressures that people endured as they valiantly tried to carry on with normal life in spite of the war.

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From AD 61, when Queen Boudicca – outraged at her treatment at the hands of the Romans – marched on the city and burned it to the ground, London has been hit by wave upon wave of destruction. This fascinating and unique book tells the story of over 2000 years of disaster – fire, water, disease, pollution, accident, storm, riot, terrorism and enemy action. It chronicles well-known episodes like the Great Plague of 1665 and the Blitz, as well as lesser-known events such as whirlwinds and earthquakes. This new edition also includes the recent terrorist attack on 7 July 2005, as well as a new section on the crises which have plagued the financial City, including the near-collapse of Britain’s banks during 2008 and 2009. London’s Disasters ultimately celebrates the spirit of the people of London who have risen above it all and for whom London is still a great city in which to live and work.

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Like many of the families in this book, Rex Sly follows in the footsteps of his ancestors who were also farmers in the Fens. The land was reclaimed by forebears, giving this unique bond between ‘soil and soul’ - each generation wishing to leave their soils as a sustainable inheritance to the next. The variety of crops which are grown has changed little over the past half-century, but the traditional farms have been largely replaced by high-tech agro-businesses. Not all farms in the fens are large, though, and the richness of the soils still enables the small grower to survive in a niche marketplace. The greatest change has been from the grower to the consumers’ shopping baskets. The marketing chain has changed from markets and merchants to the vast supermarket network: fast and efficient for the grower and value for money for the public. The corn exchanges which witnessed the rise and fall of agriculture over one and a half centuries of history are now no more than farming monuments. The ever-increasing demands on our soils are of concern to those in the Fens. Each generation is replaceable - fen topsoil is not.

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These lively and entertaining folk tales from one of Britain's most ancient counties are vividly retold by local storyteller Kirsty Hartsiotis. Their origins lost in the oral tradition, these thirty stories from Wiltshire reflect the wisdom of the county and its people. From the Giant's Dance to the Great Western Railway, no stone is left unturned to discover the roots of the county. Discover the Moonraker's passages and Merlin's trickery, dabchicks and the devil, the flying monk of Malmesbury and a canal ghost story. These tales have all stood the test of time, and remain classic texts that will be enjoyed time and again by modern readers.

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The Sheffield United – a book on the Blades like no other, packed with facts, stats, trivia, stories and legends. Sheffield United FC enjoy a notable history. Names such as Ernest Needham, Jimmy Hagan and Alan Woodward have worn the famous red and white stripes hundreds of times. As has the mercurial Tony Currie plus the infamous William ‘Fatty’ Foulke - a huge keeper who walked off the field at a whim and once dumped a forward on his head in a muddy penalty area. The Sheffield United Miscellany charts these events and many more in an intriguing format. Well known events are covered as are some priceless trivia gems - who can claim to have known the club was founded on the site of one of snooker’s most hallowed venues and hosted the obscure winter sport of bandy? Also featured are a wide range of statistics, quotes and biographies from the club’s 110-year history, making it a must for any Blade. Can you really afford not to own a copy?

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The Little Book of The East End is a funny, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium of the sort of frivolous, fantastic or simply strange information which no-one will want to be without. Here we find out about the most unusual crimes and punishments, eccentric inhabitants, famous sons and daughters and literally hundreds of wacky facts (plus some authentically bizarre bits of historic trivia). A reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped in to time and time again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage, the secrets and the enduring fascination of the original home of the Cockney which is now far more diverse. A wonderful package and essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

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This absorbing collection delves into the villainous deeds that have taken place in Norwich and its surrounding areas. Cases of murder, robbery, assault and fraud are all examined as the darker side of the city’s past is exposed. From cases as famous as the murder of William of Norwich, which led to the expulsion of the Jewish race from England in 1290, to little-known crimes such as the tragic case of a man suffering from depression murdering his fiancée, this book sheds a new light on the city’s criminal history. Illustrated with a wide range of archive material and modern photographs, Murder & Crime Norwich is sure to fascinate both residents and visitors alike as these shocking events of the past are revealed for a new generation.

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The introduction of the transom stern into the seiner-trawler fleet in the mid-twentieth century was one of the most radical departures in Scottish wooden fishing craft design since the development of the cruiser stern after the First World War. During the 1970s there also grew a colossal demand for steel boats, particularly among the herring trawling and purse seining fleets of north-east Scotland. By 1973 more than 15 British firms were building steel boats for Scottish owners. Based on her original fieldwork and using her own photographs, Gloria Wilson traces these developments and their links to economic and social trends in the fishing industry, both ashore and afloat. This fascinating book charts the tragedies and bizarre twists of fate that characterised this turbulent era, including the boats that were lost with all hands, and the boatyards forced to close, leaving half-built vessels on their slipways.

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Oxfordshire’s best-known employers are the manufacturers of cars, blankets and cakes, as well as those dealing in tourism, education and publishing. It is still essentially a rural county and many of its trades and crafts are related to the countryside. A number of Oxfordshire businesses have been handed down through several generations, adapting and modernizing as necessary over the years. Many have finally closed after decades of trade, but are nevertheless fondly remembered, one or two even reappearing as exhibits in the county’s museums. Some major employers have failed to survive, while others have become part of high street chains and at least one has expanded to form its own. Featured in this book are carvers and barrel makers, university employees and leather-workers, hop-pickers and bee-keepers, brewers and marmalade makers, railwaymen and bus drivers, thatchers and blacksmiths, and, of course, shops galore, including an ironmonger’s which dates back to Tudor days. With 200 superb photographs, this book will appeal to everyone with an interest in the history of the county, and also awaken memories of a bygone time for those who worked, shopped or simply remember these Oxfordshire firms, trades and businesses.

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Brierley Hill is one of the heavily industrialised towns that make up the region known as the Black Country. Like many such towns it can easily be divided into many smaller communities that, while being part of Brierley Hill, have quite an independent existence and identity of their own.This book sets out on a journey across Brierley Hill that begins at the parish church and ends at one of the principal crossroads in the town centre, and then we make our way around the satellite communities of Brockmoor, Bromley and Pensnett. We find ourselves in a world that was dominated by many local pits where coal and fireclay were extracted, much of this coal being used in the manufacture of iron. When steel came along, Brierley Hill became the home to a large and important steelworks at Round Oak. Other companies came into the area to manufacture products using steel and some became very large local employers and integral parts of the community. Large scale industry and mining may have gone but the communities they spawned survive and this books provides a glimpse of the shops, pubs, schools, chapels and churches and other facilities that once made each ‘village’ so self-sufficient, intertwined with their railways and canals of industry.With over 200 historic and fascinating photographs, this book is a must-have for locals and visitors alike, capturing Brierley Hill as it used to be and how it has been shaped into the place that it is today.

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'Carefully compiled' in 1867 'from prison documents, ancient papers, and other authentic sources,' this extremely rare book contains the full details of the crimes, trials and executions of every murderer, highwayman, rogue and rebel ever to swing from the York Tyburn. From nobles such as Lord Hussey, Sir Robert Aske and the Earl of Northumberland (who mounted the scaffold 'with a firm step'), to notorious villains such as William Nevinson, Dick Turpin (whose right leg started to shake as he awaited the drop) and Knaresborough schoolteacher-turned-murderer Eugene Aram, it is an enthralling tour through the executions of the North. Including the last words and prison letters of many of the condemned, and laced with a grim humour (as seen in the case of the murderer who begged the hangman to check the rope carefully lest it break and leave him 'a cripple for life'), it will fascinate anyone with an interest in criminal history.

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The first edition of William A. Guy's "Principles of Forensic Medicine" was published at the start of Victoria's reign; the final edition, from which these selections derive, was published towards the end, just a few years after the Whitechapel horrors had pushed the emerging science to the forefront of the public's consciousness. With this guide in hand, a detective could tell whether the victim had suffocated, drowned, been shot, stabbed, or struck by lightning, spontaneously combusted, frozen to death or expired due to starvation - or, as the guide warns, was not dead at all, but simply in a state of 'suspended animation'. Suggestions include examining the face of the deceased for an 'expression of angry resistance', a clear indication of murder, and studying the demeanour of the nearest and dearest in cases of suspected 'secret poisoning'. With original woodcuts, case studies and notes on identifying the corpse and walking the crime scene, Victorian CSI will fascinate lovers of crime fiction and of true crime alike.

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The popular seaside resort of Scarborough has long been a haven for holidaymakers, but the town also harbours some disturbing secrets. Discover the darker side of Scarborough with this fascinating collection of spine-chilling tales from around the town. From poltergeists and mummies to the Headless Man and the mysterious story of the vanishing houses, this book includes many pulse-raising narratives that are guaranteed to make you blood run cold. Illustrated with over sixty pictures Haunted Scarborough will delight everyone interested in the paranormal.

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Brummie Kid is a fascinating recollection of the experience of growing up in the slums of Nechells and Aston. All the harshness of daily life is remembered here by local author Graham Twist. Despite hard living conditions and a distinct lack of money, a strong community spirit prevailed and families and neighbourhoods were close-knit. In these tough times you hoped nobody noticed you going to the 'pop shop' to pawn precious valuables, siphoning petrol from cars under the nose of the local bobby, or sneaking into the flicks without paying – though everyone was more or less in the same boat. Here are more funny, heart-warming stories from the backstreets of Birmingham which are sure to rekindle old memories.

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Around Norwich is not just another book on this fine city. Combining many previously unpublished photographs of outstanding quality and interest with well-researched captions, including many new facts and stories, one of the county's foremost local historians has created a fascinating narrative of the city, suburbs, people, shops and events of the past. Some images will be reassuringly familiar, some have changed or are lost beyond recollection. In one of its most turbulent centuries, the city has lived through the coming of the trains and the tram system, the Baedeker Blitz of 1942 and the construction of the inner link roads in the 1960s. It also takes a look at some of the sports and entertainment; from Norwich City FC playing at 'The Nest' to The Hippodrome Theatre. This book will be an enduring and nostalgic record, of interest to anyone who knows and loves the City of Norwich.

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Herefordshire Murders brings together twenty-eight murderous tales, some which were little known outside the county and others which made national headlines. Herefordshire was home to one of Britain’s most infamous murderers, Major Herbert Rowse Armstrong, who, in 1921, poisoned his wife and attempted to poison a fellow solicitor in Hay-on-Wye. However, the county has also experienced many lesser known murders. They include the case of two-year-old Walter Frederick Steers, brutally killed in Little Hereford in 1891; eighty-seven-year-old Phillip Ballard, who died at the hands of two would-be burglars in Tupsley in 1887; Jane Haywood, murdered by her husband near Leominster in 1903; and the shooting of two sisters at Burghill Court, near Hereford, by their butler in 1926. Nicola Sly’s carefully researched and enthralling text will appeal to everyone interested in the shady side of Herefordshire’s history.

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This colourful evocation of Christmas in Cheshire will enliven many an evening around a blazing fire. Wonder at the Mayor of Chester's sumptuous banquet where the tables groan under the sheer weight of food; experience the joy of the newly-wed Reverend and Mrs Brandt as they arrive on a frosty Christmas Eve at Gawsworth Rectory, their new home; feel your flesh creep at the tales of the ghosts of Christmas past which haunt the eerie country house at Poulton Lancelyn in the Wirral; spare a thought for the poor farmer to whom Christmas is just a week with three Sundays in it; ride with the whipper-in of the Cheshire Forest Hunt on a Boxing Day meet that went perilously wrong; and follow the Duke of Westminster's gamekeeper in a taxi cab full of cards and gifts, as he struggles across Cheshire to deliver them all in time for Christmas. So, shut out the cold night, draw the curtains and put another log on the fire. Then settle down in the warmth to enjoy this enthralling anthology of A Cheshire Christmas, the perfect stocking filler for all who know and love the county.

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The history of Special Operations Executive (SOE) seems to spring a never-ending run of surprises, and here are some more. This book explores the mysterious world of the tools SOE used for their missions of subversion and sabotage. An often grim reality is confronted that is more akin with the world of James Bond and Q's workshop than previously believed. Written by two scientists, one of whom served in the SOE and one who was tasked with clearing up after it was disbanded; their insider knowledge presents a clear account of the way in which SOE's inventors worked. From high explosive technology to chemical and biological devices; from the techniques of air supply to incendiarism; from camouflage to underwater warfare; and from radio communications to weaponry. SOE: The Scientific Secrets is a revelation about the tools that allowed the murky world of spying and spies to operate during wartime.

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