Search results for ""Amberley Publishing""

As the fifties faded away, sixties style swept York into the modern age.

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The history of East Shropshire has had a global impact, with Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale acknowledged as the ‘Cradle of the Industrial Revolution’. In this book, local industrial history expert Neil Clarke examines through photographs the history of the railways in this area, which both came from the Industrial Revolution and enabled its growth, through the rapid expansion of the nineteenth century and the Grouping and the Beeching Axe of the twentieth century to the present day. Everything, from the first wagonways (early railways) to individual branch lines of the area, is examined using both old photographs and drawings and modern photographs to show the development of railways in the area. This area of Shropshire has changed beyond all recognition, as the harsh lines of industry have been replaced with greenery, yet the remnants of its industrial past can still be seen, especially through its railways.

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The River Frome in Dorset flows for some 30 miles from the chalk uplands of central Dorset into Poole Harbour near Wareham. Its source is St John's Well in the village of Evershot, and from here it flows through some of Dorset's most scenic and historic landscapes. The river passes a wide variety of settlements, including the county town of Dorchester, the Saxon walled town of Wareham, and picturesque villages such as Cattistock and Moreton. A fascinating array of historic features fill the valley: a railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, earthworks of a Roman aqueduct and, most surprising of all, several miles of water meadow systems, which fertilised the land during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Called 'The Vale of the Great Dairies' in the works of Thomas Hardy, paths and lanes make it easy to explore the Frome valley and follow the river's course from Evershot to Wareham.

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A fabulous collection of ghostly hauntings in Cumbria that will fascinate and intrigue everybody who knows the area.

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The railway came to Peebles in July 1855. However, this small town in the Scottish Borders soon became the subject of a dispute between the North British Railway and the Caledonian Railway. The Peebles Railway, the first to reach the town, was taken over in 1876 by the North British. In 1855, however, the Symington, Biggar & Broughton Railway was authorised and, in 1861, formally absorbed by the Caledonian Railway. The North British responded with a new line from Peebles to Galashiels which blocked the Caledonian. In this book, Roy G. Perkins and Iain MacIntosh look at the two North British lines, from where the original Peebles Railway left the line south of Edinburgh to Galashiels, using a fascinating collection of modern and period photographs. Although the railways in the Borders were closed in the 1960s, sections of them are still in partial use as cycle paths and the new Borders Railway will also bring fresh life to parts.

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A fascinating, highly illustrated description of the lost country houses of the North East of England.

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The tragic news of the ISIS-inspired massacres in Europe and countless other locations throughout the Middle East, in conjunction with the failed political coup against Erdogan in Turkey, have raised the spectre of an ideological struggle that is more than a century old. As the West struggles with the consequences and implications of its ‘War on Terror’, parallels with this earlier jihad become manifest. The sprawling Ottoman Empire was at the point of dissolution by November 1914 when she declared a Holy War against the Allied Powers and threw in her lot with Germany. It was a disastrous decision that set in chain a series of cataclysmic events, which culminated in the demise of an ancient regime and the emergence of a modern, secular republic. The first jihad in the Arab world since the Crusades was to continue long after the Armistice of 1918, as the defeated empire faced a triumphalist Greece, supported by Britain, seeking to re-establish hegemony over Anatolia. This caused outrage throughout the Muslim world, threatened British paramountcy in India, and fractured diplomatic relations with close allies and the unity of her empire. Confronted with the indefatigable resistance of one man, Kemal Ataturk, Greek dreams ended in ashes, whilst the stubborn support of Lloyd George for Britain’s ally resulted in his own political extinction. It is a warning from history, including as it does ethnic cleansing, pogroms, regime change and political hubris. It is a story of steely determination and dogged bravery in the face of brazen territorial expansionism. It is also the history of the first modern jihad.

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Biographical material on Emily Brontë is scarce. In the past, biographers have taken this as an excuse to portray intuition as fact, creating a confused and inaccurate image of the author of Wuthering Heights. In A Life of Emily Brontë, Edward Chitham searches diligently for the truth. He describes his book as an 'investigative biography', delving into Emily's childhood, her relationships with her family, her father's Irish roots, and the influences of her friends and acquaintances. Using material neglected by other biographers, Chitham makes an illuminating and scholarly study of the events and characters that shaped Emily's inspiration - a puzzle that has confounded many and made her, up to this point, an enigmatic and misrepresented figure.

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The branch lines of Devon were particularly numerous and this second volume on the county covers Plymouth, west and north Devon. They vary from the Turnchapel and Yealmpton commuter lines, to the Exeter and Barnstaple branch, which for many years of its life was a main line, becoming a branch line within the last forty years. One branch still open is the Plymouth to Gunnislake line, which remains because it offers the most direct route. Many of the branches have interesting histories. The Princetown branch was famous for being the highest station in England. The Torrington to Halwill Junction line began life as the 3-foot-gauge Marland Light Railway whose main purpose was to carry clay. In 1925, the line was rebuilt as a standard-gauge line and extended to become the North Devon & Cornwall Light Railway - the last major railway construction in the West of England. In this absorbing, entertaining and well-researched book, Colin G. Maggs, foremost railway historian, provides a marvellously wide-ranging view of over 170 years of rail travel. Profusely illustrated with over 200 fascinating photographs, maps and ephemera, this book will appeal not only to railway enthusiasts, but to local historians as well.

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This volume starts with London Transport’s green Country bus routes, radiating eastwards from Rainham, Epping and Romford. The author lived in Romford at this time and a favourite ride was on the 370 Romford–Tilbury Ferry route end-to-end, which started just half a mile from his home at the London Road Green Line Garage forecourt. Southend-on-Sea and Colchester Corporation are the municipal companies featured, as well as independents such as Upminster & District and Osborne’s, as well as some contractors. Most of the images are of the traditional half-cab exposed-radiator buses that were then in their last days, being withdrawn from service in some cases just weeks after being photographed. Going against the trend, Southend Corporation unusually chose to ignore the all-conquering Atlantean rear-engine type (as far as it could) and operated a few of the last exposed-radiator Leyland PD3s built in 1968. With his wonderfully evocative photography capturing an interesting and unique scene, David Christie offers a nostalgic and fascinating snapshot of the area in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

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Leyland Tractors explores the story of the Leyland tractor, beginning with the orange Nuffield tractor of 1948, which was to influence the development of Leyland tractors in many key ways. The focus then shifts to the period from 1969 to 1982, when the name Leyland was used on the bonnet of a range of blue tractors, all built in Bathgate, Scotland. All the various models built during this time are looked at in detail, as each new product brought new innovations and improvements, such as quiet cabs and syncromesh gearing – as well as some less successful developments. The story continues when Leyland Tractors was sold to Marshall of Gainsborough, concluding in the mid-1980s when the firm faltered. Finally, we take a look at the legacy of the Leyland tractor, celebrating their endurance, and the fact that many have been restored by collectors, while still others are still out on farms, working as they were intended. Filled with original modern photography of tractors both at work and on display, and containing previously unseen material, this book is a unique addition to the tractor enthusiast’s library.

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The story of the Titanic in the words of the hero whose swift action saved the lives of 710 survivors. The Carpathia was on its regular voyage to New York City, when early on 15 April 1912 it received a distress signal from the White Star Line ocean liner Titanic, which had struck an iceberg and was sinking. Rostron was asleep when his wireless operator, Harold Cottam, by chance left his headset on while undressing for bed and so heard the signal. Cottam ran to Rostron's cabin to alert him. Rostron immediately ordered the ship to race towards the Titanic's reported position, posting extra lookouts to help spot and manoeuvre around the ice he knew to be in the area and extracted every bit of speed the ship's engines could muster. Even so, Carpathia, travelling through dangerous ice floes, took about 3A hours to reach the Titanic's radioed position. During this time Rostron turned off heating to ensure the maximum amount of steam for the ship's engines and had the ship prepared for the survivors; including getting blankets, food and drinks ready, and ordering his medical crew to stand by to receive the possibly injured survivors. Altogether, a list of 23 orders from Rostron to his crew was successfully implemented before Carpathia had even arrived at the scene of the disaster. Carpathia began picking up survivors about an hour after the first starburst was seen by those in the lifeboats. The Carpathia would end up rescuing 710 survivors out of the 2,228 passengers and crew on board the Titanic; at least one survivor is said to have died after reaching the ship. Later, Rostron testified about the events the night Titanic sank at both the U.S. Senate inquiry and the British Board of Trade's inquiry into the disaster.

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Frome was historically one of the largest towns in Somerset and is rapidly growing today. Its wealth was built on wool and cloth industries, later metalworking and printing, bringing many people into the town. Agricultural work was also the way of life for many. As these industries rose and fell, the fortunes of many fluctuated and in periods of decline life was often hard. In Frome Murders and Misdemeanours authors Mick Davis and David Lassman delve into local records to reveal the dark side of life for ordinary people through the ages, including tales of bewitchment, counterfeiting, revenge and vicious murder. The stories include a trial for witchcraft and the role of the vicar of Frome, a sadistic murder of a serving girl by her mistress and her mistress’ daughter, the parish constable’s account of his day-to-day dealings with domestic violence, drunkenness and general disorder in Regency Frome, an ageing playboy shot dead by a jealous husband who then shot himself, a farm labourer stabbed to death by his uncle and a triple tragedy of father, wife and son discovered dead in their home by a milkman on his rounds. This collection of true-life crime stories gives a vivid insight into life in Frome in previous centuries. This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in the history of crime as well as those who want to know more about the history of Frome and the south-west of England.

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While the Anglo-Zulu War is now best remembered for two battles, the stunning British defeat at Isandlwana and the victory against the odds at Rorke’s Drift, two others at Hlobane and Khambula eerily mirrored them. At Hlobane the British stared disaster in the face again and just about escaped, while at Khambula they inflicted a crushing defeat on the Zulu army and turned the war on its head. In addition to these two battles, a British force was massacred on the Ntombe River and the region was the last to surrender. It was a war of ambushes and night attacks, of raids and counter-raids, of visceral intensity and bitterness and two massive battles. It also saw the British hanging on after Isandlwana through the determination and grit of two men, Colonels Evelyn Wood and Redvers Buller, both Victoria Cross winners and arguably amongst the greatest heroes of the war. Humbler heroes too play their part in the story of the war in this part of Zululand, such as Sister Janet Wells, inspired by Florence Nightingale to journey out to South Africa as a pioneer nurse when still in her teens. This is the dramatic story of a true epic, one which played a critical part in shaping the ultimate British victory against a determined and wronged enemy.

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1980 to 1995 was an extraordinary time for the railways of Britain, especially the freight sector. In 1980 there was a unified, monochrome railway. Freight traffic was still abundant, with marshalling yards active and many branch lines still operating. There were hundreds of collieries. In the early 1980s, Sectorisation arrived. The freight division was separated from the passenger side and further sub-divided into different freight sectors. New locomotives were introduced, and the older types started to disappear. As the eighties progressed, the freight sector was constantly changing. The mixed freight train became a thing of the past but new traffic flows developed, particularly in containers and aggregates. The coal sector steadily declined and branch lines became disused. In the early nineties three new freight companies were created in anticipation of privatisation and then finally privatisation itself arrived, with all freight traffic being taken over by an American company. It was a period of enormous change and adaptation, and the story is told here through the images of two photographers who were keen observers of the railway scene throughout the whole of this fascinating period.

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