Walter Norval was a man marked by destiny to be a career criminal in one of Britain's hardest cities. As a boy he grew up in a world of illegal betting, violent canal bank pitch-and-toss schools, sleazy dance halls, brothels and bars where the denizens of the slums in the north side of Glasgow slaked gargantuan thirsts and plotted murder and mayhem. Before he had reached his teens, close relatives had died as blood was spilled in the streets. As a youngster he ran 'messages' for the toughest gangsters in the city and stood guard over the pots of cash in illegal gambling schools. It was a remarkable apprenticeship, dangerous and sometimes deadly. It honed a latent toughness and a talent for lawbreaking that saw him emerge in the Seventies as the first of a succession of Glasgow godfathers. Dressed in pinstriped style, he controlled his foot soldiers with fearsome fists and planned robberies with the attention to detail of a military general. He organised various Glasgow fighting factions into a single gang, which pulled off a spectacular series of robberies. But, unlike his successors, he abhorred drugs and drug-dealing. And, in a remarkable twist, he joined the anti-drugs war in later life. His story - told by the best-selling crime historian Robert Jeffrey - provides a fascinating insight into the making of a criminal mastermind, from boy to man.
stretching from the Solway Firth to the estuary of the River Tyne, Hadrian's Wall runs for 74 miles through some of the most scenic landscape in Britain. It disregards hills and valleys, at times choosing what seems to be the most difficult route. It is a spectacular monument to the ambition and skill of the Romans, who built the wall almost two thousand years ago to mark and protect the northernmost boundary of their Empire.
The New Forest's name is misleading, as it is neither new - it was created nearly 900 years ago - nor is it a forest, as it consists mainly of heathland, wetland, estuaries and grassy plains. It is Britain's smallest National Park, yet one of the most varied, boasting a wealth of flora and fauna, not to mention historic villages, churches, monasteries and palaces. In this book, photographer and writer Beata Moore captures the New Forest's changing moods through the course of a whole year - its natural and cultural heritage, its timeless villages and of course its famous wild ponies and donkeys. The New Forest's unique history, which is closely connected with hunting, warfare, shipbuilding and smuggling, reveals it as a special corner of the country, where, over centuries of change and turmoil, mankind has developed a harmonious relationship with nature.
Derbyshire Extremes is a fascinating record of over 600 extremes in Derbyshire - the first in the county, the oldest, the longest, the fastest, the finest or even the only one of its kind. The oldest megalithic tomb, the worlds first travel agent, the first astronomer royal, the largest collection of bar towels, the first National Park, the leagues first football mascot and the first oil well are just a few of the many wonders to be found here. Whatever their interest the reader is sure to find something to entertain and inform them, and they will be able to find it easily as the book contains an index in three sections, the villages, the people and the items themselves. For those wishing to visit the some of the entries this delightful book also provides information wherever visiting is possible.
The adjoining counties of Berkshire and Bickinghamshire have long been recognised as two of Englands prettiest shires. Classically English in their beauty and character, they reflect the best of our country-side. They have a delightful mixture of beech woodland, rolling farmland, quiet waterways and breezy downland, conspiring to represent some of the finest walks in Britain. In this fantastic guide it will show you how best it is to explore Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, provide you with 50 themed walks each with its own fascinating background information, give you clear and easy-to-follow directions for every walk, grade each walk by difficulty and ascent, what things to see while you are there, recommend the best places to get food and drink and guidance for dog owners on the best places for them to walk.
Covering an area of 50km^2 and with a large scale of 1:25, 000, this map has the familiar look and style of OS mapping, with improved coverage of the featured areas. Aimed at outdoor enthusiasts in particular, the level of details ensures nothing gets missed and you won't get lost.
Surrey County Cricket Club have been involved in many titanic struggles over the years and fifty of the very finest encounters are relived within the pages of this book. With match reports, scorecards and illustrations, it recounts vital and historic encounters against rival first-class counties and touring sides from around the world. Many of the matches that will be remembered most fondly by supporters of the club will be from those years in which Surrey won the County Championship; the most impressive run of success was from 1952 to 1958, and this is reflected by the inclusion of fourteen matches from that era. Some matches have been included because of historical personal performances such as Jack Hobbs breaking W.G. Grace's record of scoring the most centuries in first-class cricket against Somerset at Taunton in 1925 and Pat Pocock taking seven wickets in eleven balls against Sussex at Eastbourne in 1972. Matches against the touring Australians, whom Surrey have beaten on nine occasions, also feature, including the famous 1956 match when Jim Laker took ten wickets in an innings. The growth in more recent times of one-day cricket is recognised with the inclusion of the incredible 2002 C&G Trophy match against Glamorgan at The Oval when many records were broken. This book is full of wonderful memories celebrating the great achievements of Surrey CCC over the years and is required reading for any supporter of the club.
By the school house at Shancarrig stands a copper beech, its bark scarred with the names and dreams of the pupils who have grown up under its branches. Under Junior Assistant Mistress Maddy Ross's careful gaze the children play, but out of school Maddy's gaze lingers where it shouldn't. Maura Brennan, a bundle of fun from the rough end of town, plays with her pals: leap year baby Eddie Barton, the apple of his mother's eye, and Nessa Ryan, who little realises as she carves his name at the roots of the copper beech on the very last day of school that she'll get a lot more from one of her schoolmates than her first shy kiss. The copper beech is the gateway to Maeve Binchy's marvellous portrait of a small Irish town whose untroubled surface conceals the passions, rivalries, friendships, ambitions and jealousies beneath. This book has 298 pages and is 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.6 cms
The East Midlands is so varied in its character that it is difficult to define - from the dead-flat Lincolnshire coast to Northamptonshires bold limestone ridges, the steep, wooded slopes of North Leicestershire to the wide flood plain of the River Trent in Nottinghamshire. You can stride out across the chalk whalebacks of the Lincolnshire Wolds or walk below sea level through the Cambridgeshire Fens. A tour of the East Midlands confirms its essential Englishness and almost every village has beautiful medieval church, cottage of inn and Northamptonshire sems to have a different statley house at every bend of the road which is usually surrounded by landscaped parkland and bizarre follies. In this fantastic guide you will find the very best way to explore the East Midlands and Cambridgeshire, it provides you with 50 themed walks each with its own fascinating background read, clear easy-to-follow directions for every walk, specific grading of difficulty and ascent for each walk, provide you with information on what to see in the aera while you are there, highly recommended places to eat and drink and guidance for dog owners on where the best places for them to walk.
Explore the best of Norfolk 50 themed walks, each with fascinating background reading Clear and easy to follow directions for every walk All walks graded for difficulty and ascent What to see in the area while you're there Recommended places to eat and drink Guidance for dog owners on where to walk
Everybody knows that Yorkshire has some special landscapes. Out in the Dales, the Moors, the Wolds and the Pennine Hills, walkers can lengthen their stride, breathe fresh country air and be alone with their thoughts. But what about West Yorkshire? That's Leeds and Bradford... well there is more than a little truth to most cliches isn't there? Well Hebden Bridge is one example - the walking around there is every bit as good as the celebrated Yorkshire Dales. In this fantastic guide it will show you the best ways to explore West Yorkshire, provide you with 50 themed walks each with their own fascinating background read, give you clear and easy-to-follow descriptions for every walk. provide you with quality information on the best places to eat, drink and recommend what to look out for, what there is to see in the are when you are there and guidance for dog owners on the best places to walk.
The mountains of Scotland come in all shapes and sizes. There are the green friendly fells of Perthshire, where the great River Tummel winds idly in its oak-tree gorge and salmon flash in the pools of Killiecrankie. There are the grim crags of Glen Coe - oppressive and even scary on days of low cloud, wind and beating rain. When the clouds do lift and the sun comes out, its still oppressive and scary because you can see how high they go. Northwards we come to the Cairngorm massif. These huge hills are rounded and Cairngorms great forest grows with a great river flowing through it on a bed of golden shingle. There are the wilds of Wester Ross, were the sea runs among the mountains, a wide golden beach, a cragged headland, an ancient dun, the Isle of Skye with its purple mountains rising into the blue sky. Then you have the green glens of the west in Grampians, were the clans have left there castles in the lochs and their summer huts high on the flanks of the hills and much, much more. In this fantastic guide you will find the very best ways to explore the Scottish Highlands and Islands, 50 themed walks each with their very own fascinating background read, clear and easy-to-follow directions for every walk which are specifically graded by difficultly and ascent, what you need to see in the area while you are there, highly recommended places to eat and drink and special guidance for dog owners and the very places for them to walk.
Flowing for nearly 100 miles through gently rolling countryside at the very heart of England, the Avon, this most English of rivers, has been immortalized by generations of photographers and artists. In this book Jan Dobrzynski and Keith Turner take the reader on a journey in More...words and pictures through the five counties transversed by the Avon, from Naseby in Northamptonshire to Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, using postcards drawn from their collections. Along the way we visit towns including Warwick, Stratford, Evesham, Pershore, and Tewkesbury, as well as the villages of Fladbury, Cropthorne, and Eckington, among many others. On the journey we encounter locks, ferries, and mills, many of which have long gone. This fascinating selection of photographs, accompanied by the authors? informative captions, show a captivating glimpse of how the Avon used to be.
Covering an area of 50km^2 and with a large scale of 1:25, 000, this map has the familiar look and style of OS mapping, with improved coverage of the featured areas. Aimed at outdoor enthusiasts in particular, the level of details ensures nothing gets missed and you won't get lost.
Pleasure piers are among the most distinctive and memorable creations of Victorian Britain. These magnificent and evocative buildings represent the exuberant, optimistic style of the British seaside resort at the peak of its popularity, and the Yorkshire coast possessed no less than six of these extraordinary structures. Today, only the pier at Saltburn-by-the-Sea remains, and, as a whole, only half of the numbers of piers built survive as fascinating relics of a lost age. In this meticulously researched and highly illustrated account, Martin Easdown tells the story of the rise and fall of Yorkshire's seaside piers. The piers he principally describes in his lively narrative are the long-lost structures at Coatham, Redcar, Scarborough, Hornsea and Withernsea, plus the county's only surviving pleasure pier at Saltburn-by-the-Sea. He looks how they were designed and constructed, at the men who built and financed them, and at the hazards that beset them - fire, storm, ship collision, war damage and ever-threat of insolvency, that heralded their demise. The author, who is an acknowledged expert on the history of piers, gives a vivid insight into the deep impact of these structures on the social life, the economy and the character of the Yorkshire towns in which they were built. His entertaining book reveals - and records - a neglected aspect of Yorkshire's history.
The City of London is the historic heart of London. It refers to the area within the original old walled city built by the Romans around AD50. This, the oldest part of London, stretches from Temple and Fleet Street in the west to Aldgate and the Tower of London in the east, from Smithfield and the Barbican in the north to the River Thames in the south. This small area of just over one square mile is the smallest ceremonial county and a thriving business centre. The City embodies a mix of tradition and change; it is the most historic part of London, yet also the most modern; a kingdom of its own with many customs, traditions and pomp and ceremony preserved for centuries mixing easily with modern life. It is a business and financial centre with beautiful churches and tranquil green spaces where Roman ruins, medieval timber buildings, Tudor and Georgian houses sit next to iconic towering skyscrapers.
The branch lines of Worcestershire are especially interesting because of their variety, ranging from parts of the Severn Valley Railway, one of the country s largest preserved main lines, to former main lines, down to lines which have always been branches. Many are now closed, yet several are still active and may be enjoyed by today s traveller. Although most branches were steam-worked until the 1960s when diesel power took over, one branch was cable-worked in its early days. Some of the lines were worked by steam railmotors a coach and locomotive combined in the same vehicle. The Stourbridge Town branch was one of the last haunts of the GWR railmotors and less than six months after it ceased to use the line, early diesel railcars took over working the same branch. One branch has even been electrified that from Barnt Green to Redditch. Most of the stations still open have been modernised, but a few retain their nineteenth-century buildings, while the preserved Severn Valley Railway has erected a terminus at Kidderminster in the GWR style of 1890. Other celebrated structures include the timbered viaducts, as well as others in stone, brick or steel. In addition to describing the traffic c on each branch line and its history, well-known railway historian Colin G. Maggs tells of some of the mishaps which occurred on the Old Worse and Worse, the aptly nicknamed Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. Illustrated with over 180 photographs this book will appeal to railway enthusiasts and local historians alike.
Walking is one of Britain's favourite leisure activities, and this fantastic walking guide to the Cotswolds features a variety of mapped walks to suit all abilities. The book features all the practical detail you need, accompanied by fascinating background reading on the history and wildlife of the area, as well as other local points of interest. All walks are annotated with local points of interest and places to stop for refreshments and every walk is given a summary of distance, time, gradient, level of difficulty, type of surface and access, landscape, dog friendliness, parking and public toilets.
Newcastle Upon Tyne has not had a major new history published in over 50 years, until now. Newcastle does not look the same and its people don't think as they did. This important new book reveals as nothing has done before how Newcastle's character was created. It is a book of compelling interest for the resident of the Newcastle area and, in the wider field, a significant contribution to the history of northern England.
Covering an area of 50km^2 and with a large scale of 1:25, 000, this map has the familiar look and style of OS mapping, with improved coverage of the featured areas. Aimed at outdoor enthusiasts in particular, the level of details ensures nothing gets missed and you won't get lost.
This fourth book in this series covers all of Wales and English counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire. It provides a snapshot of the great variety of buses operated in these areas at the start of the 1970s. The operators featured include the remaining municipal operators in the region, the subsidiaries of the NBC and the newly formed West Midlands PTE, the only PTE, courtesy of its take-over of Walsall, to operator trolley buses.
Covering an area of 50km^2 and with a large scale of 1:25, 000, this map has the familiar look and style of OS mapping, with improved coverage of the featured areas. Aimed at outdoor enthusiasts in particular, the level of details ensures nothing gets missed and you won't get lost.
Staffordshire is steeped in history and a very varied culture. The area is characterised by lofty moors, deep dales and has tremendous view of both - from the great crags of the Roaches to the mysterious Thor's Cave. This is pottery county which was the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and the driving force behind the network of canals that criss-cross it. The landscape is surprisingly hilly and mother nature has recently re-staked her claim on it, which today is typified by peacefull wooded valleys, pond-pearled streams and gently rolling hills. In this excellent guide it will provide you with the very best way of exploring what Staffordshire has to offer, provide 50 themed walks each with its very own fascinating background read, clear easy-to-follow descriptions for every walk, information on what to look out for and the best places to eat and drink, what you should make sure you see while you are there and a special guide for dog owners on where the best places are for them to walk.
Walking is one of Britain's favourite leisure activities, and this fantastic walking guide to Cornwall features a variety of mapped walks to suit all abilities. The book features all the practical detail you need, accompanied by fascinating background reading on the history and wildlife of the area, as well as other local points of interest. All walks are annotated with local points of interest and places to stop for refreshments and every walk is given a summary of distance, time, gradient, level of difficulty, type of surface and access, landscape, dog friendliness, parking and public toilets.
Suffolk, people will tell you, is flat. It is true that the highest point is only 420ft (128m) above sea level, but this is what gives Suffolk its wide open vistas, it huge sunsets and its famously sweeping skies. And although there are no mountain to climb, with very little effort you can be up on a ridge enjoying endless views over the rolling countryside punctured with pretty villages and medieval church towers. This fantasic guide will help you explore the very best of Suffolk, has 50 themed walks each having its own fascinating background read, it will provide you with clear and easy-to-follow directions for every walk, the walks are specifically graded in difficulty and ascent, advise you what to see in the area while you are there, recommend top places to each and drink and provides guidance for dog walkers on where the best areas are to walk.
Explore the best of Somerset 50 themed walks, each with fascinating background reading Clear and easy to follow directions for every walk All walks graded for difficulty and ascent What to see in the area while you're there Recommended places to eat and drink Guidance for dog owners on where to walk
Maidstone Corporation Transport followed a traditional course, and like many other towns around the country it began by running trams (in 1904) and then buses (in 1924). The trams were replaced between 1928 and 1930 mainly by trolleybuses, which were themselves replaced by buses in 1967. All the photographs in this wonderful selection are from Eric's own extensive collection. They combine with the highly informative text and captions to provide a valuable record of all the types of buses owned (in their various liveries) and the majority of the hired buses. The photographs have also been chosen to show buses in many town centre locations, the traditional terminals, post-1981 rural routes, suburban and central London. Coaches are shown in locations as far apart as Portsmouth, Burnley and northern France. Also includes an abridged Fleet List.
In a remote corner of rural Essex, when ploughs were drawn by heavy horses and children walked shoeless to school, young Spike Mays lived with his family in a two-up, two-down cottage, where there was no electricity, no bathroom, no running water and just a shared privy in the back yard. Beset by poverty, this was an England in the shadow of the Great War. In this bittersweet memoir Mays recreates the village, its travelling parson, local poacher and even the local drunkard. And in the bustling backstairs world of the squire's house where Spike served his apprenticeship we see a more privileged side to life. This warm and nostalgic portrait of a very different Essex opens a door to a distant past.
Essex is full of pleasant surprises. It has the largest coastline - over 300 miles (483km) - of any county in England with its fairshare of castles, royal connections and scenic valleys. It comfortably combines history with the contemporary. For example Colchester was built by the Romans and is Britains oldest recorded town. Its castle is the largest Norman keep in the country. Although Essex has neither hills nor mountain ranges this county has plenty of other attractions, which can be only fully appreciated while on foot. You will discover that Essex is a diverse and interesting county with many pretty villages. In this fantastic guide it will show you the best places to explore in Essex, provide you with 50 themed walks with theri very own fascinating background reading, give you clear and easy-to-follow directions for every walk, grade each walk by difficulty and ascent, let you know what to see while you are there, recommend quality places to eat and drink and provide guidance for dog walkers on the best places for them to walk.
National league glory last visited Manchester City in 1968, when the likes of Bell, Lee and Summerbee lifted the English Football League Championship trophy. Fast forward forty-four years. The 2011/12 Premiership season belongs to Manchester City. It has been a long wait, but premiership glory has finally come to rest at the Etihad Stadium. My Eyes Have Seen the Glory is a match-by-match, blow-by-blow, superbly illustrated account of the most memorable season of English football in recent years. The world has looked on as Man City has grown in strength under the steady leadership of Roberto Mancini. The chairman expected, the fans expected; Mancini has delivered. It has been a season of magnificent highs - the 6-1 trouncing of Manchester United, named by Sir Alex Ferguson as 'the worst result in my history' - and depressing lows - the infamous Carlos Tevez saga - but there has always been drama, passion and world-class football. Victory in the Premiership is to be cherished; My Eyes Have Seen the Glory is the book every Man City fan has been waiting to read. Read it, bask in the glory of long-awaited victory, and celebrate the birth of a new era in the Premiership - Manchester City's era.