From the mid-eighteenth century Irish country houses flourished. Landowners generated easy income leasing land to tenants. As their wealth increased so did the size of their country mansions. But factors such as the Great Famine land reforms the increasing expense of maintenance & the IRA targeting the houses during the War of Independence took their toll. Gradually abandoned & forgotten the houses sank into decay. In 2008 Tarquin Blake found his first abandoned ' Big House' & so began exploring the lost architecture of Irel&. Here he documents what is left of fifty mansion houses with brief histories & beautiful photographs of the haunting ruins. Included are Mountpelier Lodge (Dublin Hellfire Club) the birthplaces of Daniel O' Connell & the Duke of Wellington & the one-time homes of Grace O' Malley & of brewing family the Smithwicks of Kilkenny. The inclusion of details from the 1911 Census offers a glimpse of the closing days of the aristocracy & their mansions. ...

Following the success of Abandoned Mansions of Ireland Tarquin Blake documents more forgotten stately homes. These include Elsinore in County Sligo where William & Jack Butler Yeats spent many childhood summers & Gortnamona House in County Offaly built by the 'heir to the principality of Ofelia' in 1803. Auburn House in County Westmeath was named after the 'deserted village' immortalised by the poet Oliver Goldsmith whose father was a tenant on the estate. The heyday of the Irish country house began in the early 1700s when most farmland in Ireland was owned by Anglo-Irish Protestant landowners. The land worked by tenant farmers fi nanced the increasing opulence of landowners' mansion houses. The Great Famine triggered a change of fortune: starving penniless tenants could not pay rent & the landowners' fi nances went into decline. Later the Land Acts transferred land into the ownership of the tenant farmers & with their rental income removed many landlords locked up & left. Others frittered away the family fortune trying to maintain a luxurious lifestyle. During the War of Independence & Irish Civil War country houses became a target for the Irish Republican Army & many were burned. For the remainder of the twentieth century the increasing expense of maintenance made these houses unviable & hundreds fell into hopeless dereliction. Beautiful haunting images of these crumbling ruins accompany the histories of the houses & their occupants to tell again a fascinating story of troubled times & private hardships. ...

A brand new tale in the Animal Stories series from best-selling author Holly Webb. The Abandoned Puppy is the 23rd book in Holly Webb's Animal Stories series a must for any puppy loving Holly Webb fan. Zoe is thrilled to be helping out at her Auntie Jo's animal shelter over the Easter holidays. But she doesn't expect to come across a box on the steps of the shelter containing three tiny abandoned puppies. It's touch & go for the littlest pup whom Zoe names Cookie. Over the next few weeks Zoe takes special care of Cookie & a close bond is formed between the two of them. But how will Zoe cope when it comes for the puppies to be rehomed? Holly Webb's Animal Stories have sold over a million copies in the UK. From stolen kittens to lost puppies & runaways Holly's tales of puppies & kittens have won her legions of fans. The perfect series for little girls. ...

In the early 19th century crofters & villagers streamed into the burgeoning cities of Scotland settling in the crowded & damp tenements of Glasgow & Edinburgh. Orphan girls single mothers women with feckless husbands & widows all struggled to feed & clothe themselves & were left with few options other than theft & prostitution. Anxious to quell the rising tide of petty crime the Scottish authorities imposed harsh sentences consigning these women
- & often their children too
- for transportation to the Australian colonies. Lucy Frost tells the stories of the lives of a boatload of women & their children who arrived in Hobart in 1838. While convict men of that period worked in road gangs the women were assigned as domestic servants seamstresses or to work in dairies & were often ill-treated by their employers. Considered useless when pregnant they spent months in the Female Factory locked up in the stench of a convict nursery amidst sick & dying children. Some managed to snare a good husband once theyd earned their tickets of leave & became solid citizens. For others errors & disasters continued to plague their lives in the colony.

...

The name Frederick George Abberline has become synonymous with that of Jack the Ripper & he has been portrayed as everything from an alcoholic a drug addict a womaniser & a bully. In reality Abberline was none of these but instead was a devoted husband & a dedicated policeman in a time of rampant corruption. Furthermore the Whitechapel murders were not the only notorious cases he worked on. From his humble origins as a clockmaker through to his rising through the ranks of the Metropolitan Police Abberline tells the story of a man who lead some of the most infamous investigations in criminal history. Long before the Ripper Abberline infiltrated an Irish terrorist group known as the Fenians before he became embroiled in the Cleveland Street Scandal
- an incident that almost brought the Government to its knees. When he retired from the police at the age of 49 Abberline had received eighty-four commendations & awards
- a testament to his tenacity & ability.

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It is 1319. Tavistocks fair has drawn merchants to Devon from all over England & beyond. Although the influx of visitors & their money puts temptation in the way of cut-purses & other villains no one expects a murder. So butcher Will Ruby is shocked to discover a headless corpse. Former Knight Templar Sir Baldwin Furnshill Keeper of the Kings Peace & Simon Puttock Bailiff of Lydford have just arrived in Tavistock as guests of Abbot Robert Champeaux when the body is found. When the Abbot asks Simon & Baldwin to investigate they can hardly refuse. But with an unidentifiable victim theyre badly hampered in their inquiries. Can Simon & Baldwin unravel the complex web of intrigue that has brought death to Tavistock as the undercurrent of anger & violence that lies beneath the bustling activity of the fair grows ever fiercer? ...

Have fun learning the alphabet with Betty the Bunny This is a colourful illustrated first alphabet book in a small board book format perfect for little hands. This title helps children to learn their A to Z with a charming story & bright & appealing drawings. This is a book to read together or for more confident first readers to enjoy by themselves. Betty the Bunny has found a wonderful new game to play! Have fun learning the alphabet with Betty as she goes about her day finding pictures that start with all the letters from A for apple to Z for zip. Simple language & repeated vocabulary teamed with bright & appealing pictures make this an ideal first reading & letter book for younger children. ...

The Letterland ABC" is an essential addition to any classroom. This best-selling children's alphabet book has been completely revised with vibrant new illustrations. Each of the 26 scenes depict a Letterland character surrounded by objects beginning with the target sound. Children love finding all the alternative words promoting phonemic awareness & vocabulary development. Size is 260x 215mm/10.2"x 8.5" for 64 pages." ...

The Letterland ABC" is an essential addition to any classroom. This best-selling children's alphabet book has been completely revised with vibrant new illustrations. Each of the 26 scenes depict a Letterland character surrounded by objects beginning with the target sound. Children love finding all the alternative words promoting phonemic awareness & vocabulary development. Size is 260x 215mm/10.2"x 8.5" for 64 pages." ...

Features 30 illustrated cards to help children learn the letters of the alphabet & read their first words. This pack



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